Unwritten Destiny
by Riptide Pride
Summary: "Beth is actually pretty, she's popular, nobody hates her, everybody wants a daughter like that, and the reason she was adopted was to have a better life, not because she was unwanted." PXR Puck's anger is leaving Rachel in pain no matter what she does.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story, the idea, and the mistakes.**

**First Fanfic! Even though I've been reading Fanfiction for a year now...**

Rage.

That's all she saw once she walked inside her apartment she shared with no other than her boyfriend from high school. They've been dating since senior year, and went from there. They have one of those hot and cold, bittersweet relationship. They fight where in any other family, it would be considered a do or die kind of situation. They throw anything they see at the wall, or on the floor out of frustration; plates, mugs, vases, pillows— you name it. There are some situations where she throws stuff in his directions because, well, he starts to be Puck and not the Noah she knows. Actually, Puck has been making appearances way more often than Noah.

She misses Noah. How he used to cuddle with her every night and whisper words that make her knees get weak. Now, he just stays on his side of the bed, and says a weak, "Goodnight," and wrap the blanket around his body. Rachel always felt like crying during those kinds of moments. But what did she expect after what happened the last few month? That he would be fine? Nobody would be fine after finding out that your daughter wants nothing to do with her own father. And apparently, Noah— no, Puck, is letting all his anger out on the only one that knows how it feels when their birth parents put them up for adoption; her.

The only other people in their life in New York are Santana and Mike. Everybody else disappeared. She's never been close to Santana because she still calls her names, and basically, Rachel still feels like Noah would go run to Santana and she'll just be that person he's running away from. It makes her sick when Noah goes over Santana's house when they get in a fight. She feels betrayed and so... so, hopeless. When he leaves, she has a feeling she's not the only girl by his side— even though he claims that he's not cheating on her.

And who does she have? She goes to Mike sometimes, but she mostly goes to her co-worker, Owen. He's one of those guys that made a huge mistake in life and will forever regret it. Owen's ex-girlfriend committed suicide after three month they broke up. She was depressed, and he felt betrayed. At the end, she couldn't take it anymore and just slit her wrists. Every day, he looks at her picture in his wallet, and goes to her grave on her birthday, and holds her favorite shirt on the day she died. She felt so bad for him, but he doesn't want pity from her. He doesn't want anybody making a mistake that will never be fixed.

So when Rachel needs a shoulder to cry on, Owen is always at her side. And she's grateful for that. At this point, she's sick and tired of being the scapegoat.

His eyes are on her as he stands next to the kitchen counter. She feels his eyes making holes on the back of her head as she starts putting her coat and her scarf on the coat hanger. She knows something bad is going to happen, and honestly, she's scared. She knows what happens in these situations.

"Have fun at work?" he asks, with a hint of bitterness highlighting the words.

She turns around so she's making her way to the living room. "I don't know what you're talking about, Noah. Now please, let me just—"

He stalks up to her where she's standing in front of the TV, placing her keys on the counter. "Stop it with this fucking act! It's getting old, Berry! What I wanna know is what the _hell _were you thinking when you called Santana today, huh?"

She flinched. Another thing she hates? She's no longer Rachel to him. She's _Berry_. To him, she's the girl who he bullied in high school and not _Rachel_, the girl he stood up for when college girls talked trash about her. Things definitely changed, and not for the better.

"Please, I'm tired and I—"

"No. You're gonna stay here and fucking tell me why you technically called my best friend a slut just because you felt like insecure! Don't put the blame on Santana and accuse me of cheating on you! Santana stays out of this!" He yelled, not realizing how much he's hurting her.

"Why? Why are you defending _Santana_ when me—your _girlfriend _has been bombarded with insults all _year _from Santana and you just stood there a chuckled! Don't start defending Santana, when you never came and defended me! And you can't blame me for thinking that you and Santana are hooking up behind my back by the way you were acting." She walked passed him and started making her way to their room.

She could hear him following her. And if his stomping wasn't any indication, then his voice and the way he yells at her definitely is. "Stop it with this shit about me cheating on you. You know what this shows? It shows you don't trust me, Berry. Why all the sudden you don't trust me anymore after six years, huh? Explain that to me."

Rachel turned around and glared at him. "After how you've been treating me?" You treat me like _I'm _the reason you're acting like this! I try to get you to talk to me and all you do is—"

"Try to talk to me? Un-_fucking_-believable! Like _you _could fix this! You always think you're the best and that you can fix _everything _if you put your _heart _to it, right? You're wrong!"

She stomped her foot on the ground and balled her fist. He's so stubborn! Well, both of them are stubborn. Thus, why the argument is still going. She just wanted to go to sleep. But it looks one of them are either going to sleep on the couch—It happened to Puck _and _Rachel— or Puck is going to Santana's like he _always _does. And that just makes Rachel even angrier knowing he might go over there. Doesn't he see she's hurting?

"Stop insulting me! You don't mean that and I know you don't. So stop bringing me down! It's not making this situation any better…"

"The maybe we should just have a break so I can calm down—"

"Of course it isn't! It's never about me! It's always about _you_! It's never about me, or my feelings, or my epiphanies! It's always about you! Ever since..." Rachel trailed off, knowing whatever she said was only going to escalate the problem, or she'll regret it.

Unfortunately, Noah heard it and his eyes flashed a mix of anger, hurt, and something else she couldn't identify. "Say it,"

Rachel was standing there, gripping the drawer, not facing him because she knows she's not going to hear the last of it. Noah obviously agrees.

"Say it! Say what you were gonna say! Yell it out! Scream it to the world! Say it, stop being such a fucking bitch and say—"

"Since Beth didn't want you in her life! Happy? Are you happy—"

"Fuck you, Berry. I'm done." He started making his way down the hallways and grabbing his keys on the way.

Rachel followed him, finally giving him a chance to stop what he was doing. Stop walking away or he'll regret it. She watched him grab his coat, and thrust his feet inside his sneakers.

As he turned the knob, Rachel said in a quiet, small voice. "If you walk out, I'm not gonna be here when you return."

He rolled his eyes, Puck taking over the Noah who would do something to take away the hurt that was evident in her voice.

He turned the knob and said the words that punched her heart and twisted the knuckles for good measure.

"Good riddance," And with that, he left and slammed the door.

Rachel felt the tears fall as the twisting feeling in her stomach was made her want to puke out everything she ate. The sobs raked her body as she fell on her knees and put her hand on her throat, the sobs making it ache. Her face was scrunched up, and she put her hand on her mouth to quite down her sobs, but it only did her little help. Did he just…?

He just walked away. And not even saying "I love you," or "I'll miss you," No, he said good riddance.

_Good Riddance._

Never had she thought that would be the words Noah would say when she practically _warned _him about what would happen, and he just left. That was the last straw. She tried and tried, but he didn't. And you can't fix something with one hand. Actually, with one hand it's most likely to crumble down faster.

After a few hours and a text message from Santana telling her how ridiculous she's acting, she had all of her clothes packed and her stuff was put into boxes. She's was wearing one of her father's shirt and jeans she found on the floor. Her hair was in a messy bun and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. She was waiting for Owen to come and pick her up with his father's truck.

She didn't leave a note or a message on his phone. She just left the ring he gave her. Not an engagement ring. A promise ring he gave her in their first year of college. He promised when they were twenty-five, he'd replace that with an engagement ring. That's not going to happen. Not after the Beth situation.

He _broke _his promise.

And unfortunately, he broke her too.

She saw Owen drive up to the side of his house, and she got up. He quickly exited the car and jogged up to her. Rachel broke down crying again, and he held her. Owen whispered words of comfort into her ear, and rubbed her back as she let the tears fall. She would've thought her eyes would've been dried out, but she was wrong.

After a few minutes, they were loading her stuff inside his father's truck. It was quite, just like the night. None of them bothered to talk. None of them needed too. Maybe Rachel will be a little bit better tomorrow. But for now, she just wanted to lie down.

Because starting tomorrow, she lives a life completely different than the one she lived a few hours ago.

No more Puck.

No more Noah…


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but mistakes and the idea...**

**A/N: Because of my "Fuck yeah! Glee is back on cable!" mood, I wanted to post another chapter. Thanks to those who reviewed it! It really motivates me to write faster! Also, those who alerted/favorited my story, thank you as well!**

**P.S.: I'm the type of writer that doesn't check over her work. I put my trust on Microsoft Check Spelling. Apparently, I still had mistakes. So... I can't have a Beta at this time but when I CAN have a Beta, are any of you interested? Just PM me if you are. I just need a helping hand.**

**On with the story...**

Four days after that argument and Puck is still in Santana's house. After he arrived at her house, got drunk, and listened to Santana talk about how Rachel doesn't deserve him, he went and fell asleep on Santana's bed while she talked to some unknown person on the phone. When, Puck woke up, he decided he was still mad at Rachel and stayed an extra day. And then another day, and then another...

Puck knows Beth wants nothing to do with him, okay? He fucking gets it. So why bring it up when you know it's his weak spot at the moment? I mean, seriously! Why bring up his baby girl when inside, it _kills _him knowing he's not wanted in her life? And the fact that _Rachel— _his fucking girlfriend brought her up, even worse. He couldn't take it. And all the fighting they've had? It drew him to a point where he needed to be... alone. Alone for a few days, that's all he wants right now. He doesn't want Rachel, Beth, or even his _mother_ around. That's how alone he wants to be.

Puck gets up and sits at the edge of the queen sized bed know to be Satan's Sanctuary. He dropped his head in his hands as the pounding in his head subsided. After the pounding was gone, he got up and made his way to Santana's bathroom, where his extra toothbrush was hanging on Satan's toothbrush holder-thingy. He's been here so many times, he bought a toothbrush so he won't keep brushing his teeth with his finger. That solution never works. After he took care of his morning routine, he walked out and made his way to the kitchen. Inside the kitchen was no other than Satan herself, in her underwear and a loose grey tank top flipping through a Rolling Stone magazine.

Puck scratched his stomach where hair was trailing down the waistband of his basketball shorts. "Satan,"

"Sup, Bob?" She said causally, flipping a page carelessly.

Puck furrowed his eyebrows and made a sound of disgust. "Could you stop calling me Bob? Name's fucking retarded." Puck opened the fridge and took out the carton of gallon that had about half a cup of milk left, and drank it from the cart.

Santana closed the magazine and pushed it aside. "Whatever, Bob. Listen, I have to head out in an hour. Are you gonna stay over again?" Santana started walking down the hallway to her room, where she left the door open so she could here Puck as he answered her.

Puck threw the now empty gallon of milk to the trashcan in the corner of her kitchen. "Don't know. I plan to."

Puck heard Santana sigh in the other room. "Puck, I think you should go home. You never stayed over for more than two day. And you stayed here for _four days. _ It's just gonna fuel up Man-hands even more." She returned wearing a simple yellow skin tight dress with a black sweater over it.

Puck groaned in his head, knowing his best friend is right. No need in getting in more shit than what he was in, right?

Puck does love Rachel. I mean, they've been dating for six years. _Six years._ That's the longest relationship he's had. The second being one year, with Quinn. He feels alive with Rachel, the happiest he's been. When he bought the promise ring, that's when he pictured his life with her. He pictured them having little Jewish babies running around, seeing their little boys first steps, even growing old together. He truly believes he found his soul mate. Rachel made him believe that he can make something out of him. That he doesn't have to stay in Lima because he's a Lima Loser. She told him if he truly believed he was a Lima Loser, than to be the first Lima Loser to live in New York with her. That's when he fell in love with her. They've been together since then. Of course they fight, what couple doesn't? But they always learned how to put it in the past and move on.

He remembered the time he was in the hospital after getting into a car accident.

_"Noah! What the hell?" Rachel yelled, walking inside the hospital room where Puck was laying down with a bandage on his head and stitches running up and down his arm. "Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you know how terrified I was? How I broke the speeding limit for the first time in my life? Noah, how could you scare me like that? I've never been more scared in my entire life! What if I lost you, Noah? What if you _died _in that car accident? Noah, I can't lose—"_

_Puck shook his head and sat up, wincing in pain and cupped her tear stained her cheek in his wired hand. "Rachel, baby. I'm not going anywhere. Do you hear me? Look, Rach, I'm fine. Don't cry, princess." Puck leaned in and kissed Rachel to assure her he was fine._

_Rachel grabbed his hand that was still on her cheek and squeezed it, looking him in the eyes with so much love. "Noah, promise me, just please..." More tears filled Rachel's eyes._

_Puck rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. "I promise baby." She smiled at him and hugged him so tight, he could feel the shot of pain coursing through his body, making him gasp in pain. Rachel quickly let go, apologizing._

_"Don't worry, Rach." He smirked at her. "I can still fuck you senselessly."_

Puck smiled at the memories and could almost feel Rachel's playful slap all over again. Everything was perfect then. But when he got the news that Beth didn't want anything to do with her father, something came out of him.

_Puck _came out and wanted to play with his life.

All his anger was fully on the girl Puck hated the most, and that was Rachel. He couldn't control himself. Letting his anger out on somebody definitely makes him feel better. He feels relief. Relief of not having to remember how Beth looked while she was sleeping while he and Quinn were looking at her angel-like face. Relief of not feeling the sharp pang in his heart when he could imagine Beth's hateful words directed to him.

The other thing? Rachel thinking he's cheating on her. Honestly? If he loved her that little, he would be fucking Santana against the wall at this very moment. But he loves her too fucking much to betray her like that. In fact, that's how Rachel and Finn's relationship ended in senior year. Finn cheated on her with Sugar. Rachel was devastated, and felt so insecure of herself for a while. It took months for Rachel to trust Puck being the sex shark he was, but it was worth it. It was worth waiting six months for her. He can't believe Finn gave up this amazing, beautiful girl for Sugar, a girl with no talent and gets what she wants from daddy. He knows Finn regrets it. Hell, every time Finn e-mails him, he asks if he's heard of Rachel and if he had to tell her to call him. Puck obviously lied and said he hasn't, because he doesn't want Finn to feel the way he did when Puck betrayed their friendship by hooking up with Quinn.

Puck snaps out of his thoughts when Santana punches him in the arm. He winces in pain. She may be a girl, but she can hit...

"Puckerman! I need to go! Are you staying or not?"

Puck hesitates before saying, "Nah, I'm gonna head back home."

Santana snorts, and starts walking out. "Good luck with Yentl."

Rachel sat next to Owen on his couch and curled into his body frame. No, they're not dating. Their like cousins, y'know, that close cousin that seems more like your sister, but not? Yeah, that's Owen and Rachel's relationship. Close imaginary cousins.

Owen wrapped an arm around her small frame and pulled her closer, noticing her fragile image. "Rach? You feelin' better?"

Rachel sniffs and brings her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I'm heartbroken, Owen. I'm like glass, in one little mistake, I'm broken and beyond prepare. I just... need time. We've been together for six years, I can't just forget about him in four days. Not after the pain he caused me 'till this day." Rachel can feel the tears building a wall and ready to fall. "Am I that awful, Owen? Am I that bad that when it's our breaking point without hesitation, you make the choice to leave?"

Owen shakes his head and hugs her closer. "Rachel, nothing's wrong with you. You're perfect. Puck's just going through a rough—"

"That's no reason, Owen! He's taking out his wrath on _me_! I don't deserve this, Owen! We fight more than ever, he calls me names, he tells me to go fuck myself— he's hurting me! Can't you see that? He promised he'd never hurt me, and guess what? He did. And when he said good riddance? I was so hurt I thought I might have died right there! I can't— I-I can't handle t-this. Owen, it hurts... so bad. Make it stop, please..." Rachel's body shook as her sobs filled the quite room and Owen shut his eyes, trying to calm Rachel down.

"Baby, stop crying..." He smoothed her hair down and kissed her on top of her head. "Do you want me to call your fathers?"

Rachel nodded silently. She wanted her father's here. She wanted to cuddle in between them like she used to do when she had a nightmare. She wanted to feel her daddy hold her and her dad kiss her boo-boo's and make it all better. She wants to hear them say how much they love her, even though they don't know a specific reason why, but they couldn't wish for anyone else. She wants to wear the little crown they have in their closet that belonged to her when she was four years old. She wants to eat the pumpkin pie they bake to make her feel better. She wants to sing to them and hear their applause. She wants the good memories back. Not the nightmare that overcame her present.

Owen handed her the phone, and she shakily put it near her ear. She held in her sobs so they wouldn't know she was crying.

Her throat tightened when she heard her daddy's cherry voice through the other end of the phone. Her hand shook and she bit hard on her lip to stop herself from sobbing. "Pumpkin! How is my beautiful princess doing in New York?"

Rachel's face scrunched up like a tissue and she breathed in shakily. She whispered a small, quite, "Daddy?" And her voice cracked at the end. Her father immediately asked her what was wrong, but Rachel couldn't get one single word out of her mouth as she began to cry and sob slightly.

After her father calmed her down, she said in a broken voice that would make anybody want to just hold her and take her to their care. "D-Daddy... I need you."

Puck twisted the piece of metal inside the key hole right outside of his apartment he shared with his girlfriend. He could see noisy neighbor, Ms. Hank, peeking outside her door as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. Ms. Hank could be considered Mercedes mom by the way they love gossip. He doesn't doubt Ms. Hank heard them fighting four days ago. This lady loves gossip more than the cat she lives with, and that's saying a lot.

"Good Morning, Ms. Hank." Puck said, politely.

Ms. Hank smiled at the young boy, her wrinkly face scrunching up showing even more wrinkles. "Hello there, Mr. Puckerman. Where were you? I haven't seen you all weekend."

Puck rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "I just needed a little break. But there's nothing to worry about now, everything is fine."

Ms. Hank scoffed, and walked away. "Whatever you say, Mr. Puckerman." _What was that supposed to mean? _Puck scoffed at the lady and opened the wooden, chipped door he called the entrance to his casa.

As Puck opened the door, he could already sense something's off as the cold air hit him in the face, making him shiver. He's not sure how Rachel will react. Hell, he's been gone for _four _days. He knows she's probably assuming he cheated on her.

_Fuck._

He's screwed. He should have thought this through. But, it wasn't entirely his fault. She should have known bringing up Beth would bring him to a dark, bad place. He can't control his anger when Beth is brought up. He just _can't_. It's just like pressing a needle into an over-blown balloon. It just explodes. And some people get scared of the noise, but then sometimes it makes people smile. It makes Puck smile. And Rachel gets scared. And then the fight begins.

Puck shoved his shoes off, and threw his keys on the coffee table right next to the door. As he walked further inside his own home, the echoing of his footsteps sends a jolt of electricity to his heart, making it ache. He doesn't even know why.

_Something's not fucking right._

Puck walks into the living room, and it just makes him even more confused. It looks so... empty. It _feels _empty. And he doesn't like it one bit. It's like having a hole in your leg. The slow wind's giving you chills on your nerves and you want nothing more than to cover it up.

Puck looks around the weird, unknown place called his living room. But when he sees the movie cabinet, he his breath gets caught in his throat. It's halfway empty. Their movie cabinet used to be filled with movies. Especially Broadway, musical movies. All belonging to Rachel.

_Rachel..._

Puck started speed-walking to their room, his walking turning into jogging as the idea of Rachel gone makes his heart feel like it's getting hammered with a spike ball. His stomach is churning and his throat tightens. "Rachel! Rachel, you here?"

_Silence. Echo. A shatter._

Puck barges into their room to see that everything of Rachel's were gone. And by stuff, he means literally, _all _of her stuff. Clothes, laptop, bed cover, make-up, books, music sheets— even her bedazzled microphone! Everything is... _gone. _Everything in the room he recognizes it as his. The closet is halfway empty, and his bed is made and changed. His bed was no longer covered with a light navy cloth that had gold stars surrounding it. It was changed to a simple, red cover that made him sick. It made him sick because it didn't belong to her. It belonged to him. And he didn't like that. He wanted a cover that belonged to _them._

Puck felt his world slowly crumbling down.

_No. No, it couldn't be. It just... can't be. She left... She left me. She fucking left! Rachel Berry left my dumb ass! What the— No! It can't be true. It can't... _Puck shut his eyes and breathed in slowly, trying to calm down.

How could she just leave? Not even a note on the side of their— _his _bed. She just left. Without even texting him, calling him, not even a message on his e-mail.

Puck's eyes shot open, and he made his way to a small, treasure chest in the corner of the room. _This will tell me if it's really over. It can't be over. It just fucking can't! It's been six years... Six fucking years._

Puck opened the chest and he felt his heart burst and his blood run down his organs. Their... it's gone.

Puck felt his body shake as he looked inside the chest that represented their relationship.

_"Noah! This is crazy!" A ten year old Rachel yelled at him as she held a lollipop that said "Together Forever" during Rachel's aunt's wedding._

_Rachel and Noah were sitting under one of the tables that were beautifully decorated with baby blue, and yellow swirls at the end. Puck held out the piece of paper and a pen to Rachel with a smirk on his face. "C'mon, Rach! Just sign it!"_

_Rachel giggled. "Do you really want to do this, Noah?" And when she saw Noah nod his head eagerly, she sighed with a smile gracing her lips and grabbed the paper and pen. She signed it with her nice, simple handwriting. She smiled at her a Noah's named signed right next to each others. She handed the lollipop to Noah and he ripped the wrapper open._

_"Rachel Berry, I, Noah Puckerman, promises to never leave you and I'll be with you every step of the way." Puck licked the lollipop and passed it to Rachel, who was blushing and smiling with glee._

_She giggled. "I, Rachel Berry, promise to you, Noah Puckerman, to be with you forever as long as you love me. I promise to put Broadway second because you'll always be my number one." After that, Rachel licked the lollipop._

_Puck had such a big smile on his face as he said, "Together forever, babe."_

Inside that chest, the paper, and the lollipop wrapper was gone. And what was left inside? The promise ring he gave her.

_Fuck, I lost her._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: I'm sorry for my mistakes...again. I just don't have time to go over what I wrote. Anyways, thanks to the people who reviewed my story. But, I **_**really **_**need feed back. I know I'm doing something wrong, and I need your help to make me be an improved author. So, please? Once you read the chapter, give me some advice? It's appreciated :)**

**On with the story...**

Two weeks ago. It's been two weeks since she left without a trace but the small promise ring that is probably in the garbage or sold on eBay. She wouldn't be surprised if he threw it away. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if he _burned _the ring. For all she knows, he's probably burning everything that reminds himself of her. He probably moved out too. And you know what's worse? She never would have thought these things about Puck. And this just comes to show that he is who he is... Puck. She expects all these things with Puck and just because Noah was left to grieve about his daughter in peace. Isolated from the world and throwing Puck at whoever tried to help him. And unfortunately, Rachel was one of Puck's victims.

His mother tried to reach out to him and comfort her baby boy, but he simply ignored her phone calls and deleting her e-mails. Puck knew she couldn't afford to take a plane to New York, so he took that as an advantage to hurt her. And he did, no matter what Rachel did he wouldn't give in. His guards are up, and she fell down trying to climb over it. And he was the tyrant that stood there and laughed. That's when she waved the white flag she only took out after Finn and her mother. She just stopped.

She didn't give up because deep inside her, she knew she still had hope for him. No matter how many times he hurt her. She still has hope. For him, for Beth, for Finn— even for Shelby! The one person who abandoned her. She can't wish someone to just rot in hell and that they deserved it. She isn't like that. And sometimes she _hates _it. She wants to hate someone for the longest period of time, but she just can't. Her soul won't let her. Because she believes in the saying, "_Don't regret what once made you smile_." And everyone she knew made her smile at least once. Even Santana, the day she stood up for Kurt. She just can't. It's one of the things beyond her control.

She looks up at the laptop where she's staring at her Facebook info. The one questioning about her relationship status. It currently says "In a relationship" with the name "Noah Puckerman" on the bottom. She has to make it official everywhere. She can't keep doing this, and if she leaves it at "In a relationship", he'll think she just needed time to breathe. She can't tell him because it hurts too much and she'll probably start bawling right then and there. So the only other choice she has is to prove it. It might seem a little too cowardly and stupid to be ending their relationship through Facebook, but what else can she do?

She just hopes Puck won't come and ruin her plan. She's smart enough to know that Noah Puckerman is one stubborn, determined, scary bad boy. She didn't know what to expect and that scared her to no end. He could say mean things to her on Facebook, text, e-mail, or even in person! Or, he could do something much worse and take the pictures she sent him of her either half or completely naked and post it online. He can maybe even rub his relationships in her face and— she wouldn't be able to handle it. She would literally crumble to the floor and try to grasp her heart that's slowing turning into ashes after everyone branded it with permanent images, sayings, and memories. Some of them good, most of them bad.

She closes her eyes tight once she feels the faint feeling of water behind her eye lids. Why did end like this? She just wanted to be the Princess to cure his injuries after a long war. And all he did was he took of his helmet and whacked her with it, taking his sword and limping away. Okay... maybe not whacked her, but verbally, it was like he was repeatedly stabbing her.

Every time he came home late.

Every time he left saying he's going to Santana's to "blow off some steam."

Every time he would yell at her and accuse her of being a bitch.

Every single moment with Puck since the Beth incident was a painful stab to the chest. And that's enough to kill an army, that's how much she was hurting.

She moved her mouse to the box right next to "Relationship Status" and clicked on the box, looking at the scroll of words that came out from "Single" to "In a domestic partnership." She moved her mouth down a little to "Single", and clicked it with shaking hands. She moved the page down and saved the changes she made.

**Rachel Berry **_went from being "in a relationship" to "single." _

Puck stepped out of his car and shoved his keys in his pocket as he shut the car door. He knew something bad was going to happen. In other words, it's going to be pretty messy. But Puck can't take it. The house feels so empty, so cold, so... alone. He comes back from work every day expecting to see Rachel cooking her non-meat lasagna, or cleaning the living room just to be reminded that she's gone once he steps into the house. It's frustrating, it really is. It's like you forget that she's gone for half of the day, and realize she is the other half. He even cooked dinner once originally made for one, but there was enough food for two. That's how bad it is. And it sucks.

Puck walks up the steps, thinking if he'll die after an hour or five minutes. Who knows? Maybe the second he's seen he'll be attacked and stabbed to death. But it's worth a try, because right now he's losing hope. Well, the little hope he has once he read on Facebook that Rachel berry is now "single and ready to mingle." That saying he used to say every day, but now that she's saying it makes him want to kill every guy in the world just so no one can woo their way through her heart. He's so possessive with her; he could be a K-9 protecting their babies. He knows he has no right, but it's a habit he's had for six years and it's not going away any time soon.

He knocks three times on the metal door; the faded numbers on the door making him think it says 47 instead of 42. He shoves his hands in his pockets and rock back and forth on the heel of his shoes, hearing the footsteps of the one person who is brave enough to claw his eyes out without a second thought.

He hears the door unlock and open, revealing the man he really doesn't want to confront. He gives him this icy, cold glare that he's seen only twice in his life. And that's rare for twenty-four years of life.

"Hey there, man." Puck says, not too cold, but not too smooth or happy either.

He can see his knuckles grip the doorknob as if he's restraining himself from attacking. "Puckerman,"

Puck doesn't smile, nor frown. He's just... plain. "You haven't changed since the last time I saw you, Chang."

"I should say the same for you since the last time I saw Puck he was shagging up a girl he met at the bar." Mike responded, sarcasm and hatred visible in his voice. Puck has a straight face, but inside he's fuming and planning murder. "What do you want, Puck?"

Puck does not like this little tough attitude that Mike's putting up, and Puck's blaming him if this encounter gets bloody. "If you let me in instead of freezing my ass out here, that would be most appreciated." Puck snapped back, feeling the cool air of the late September breeze.

Mike hesitated, obviously thinking it through until he pushed the door wider, giving Puck enough space to step into Mike's apartment he shared with his roommate, Luke. The last Puck was here was a month ago when he was in a fight with Rachel and Santana was in Lima with her parents for vacation. Mike told him to stop treating Rachel like a piece of nail that keeps bugging you and biting it until it's weak enough to pull it out. Puck just laughed at his comparison and told him a simple, yet meaningful, "Whatever happens between Rachel and me is what it's meant to be."

Puck walked into the living room, but in reality he wants to run up the stair and into every room in the house to see if Rachel was there. He needs closure, besides the hate obvious in the air. It's not the same without her. It's different, and it's not exactly a welcoming feeling. It's his like did a whole 180 and he couldn't be more lost.

Mike walked into the living room and sat down on the wooden chair from his kitchen, and stared at Puck with a confused and heated glare. "I asked once, I'll ask again. What are you doing here? Last time I saw, you weren't welcomed."

"Last time I checked, I never got an invitation." Puck snapped back.

Mike scoffed. "Because you weren't invited."

Puck took a deep breath, and after he felt his heart calm down from his fury, he spoke again. "I don't give a shit, okay? I'm not even here for you."

"If you're here for Rachel, you got the wrong person to fill you in after you treated her." Mike said, and proceeded to lead Puck to the door but Puck stood up and stepped away from him.

"It wasn't my intention to hurt her. Why don't you guys understand that, huh? How do you expect me to react after Beth? Ecstatic? Okay? Fucking happy? Tell me, how should I react? After finding out the one little girl I desperately wanted to be with doesn't want anything to do with me—her father!" Puck yelled out, having been fed up with everyone saying he has no reason to be acting like he is. He has a damn reason, for fucks sake! His daughter wants nothing to do with him when all he wanted was to hold her and be a part of her life.

Mike stands up and gets in his face real fast. "Yeah, I get it Puck. But why take your anger out on Rachel, huh? Did she take Beth away? _Did she_? No! She didn't! Instead, she tried to help you and all you did was hurt her. She doesn't deserve what you did and said to her. No one does, but she was unfortunately one of them. You _hurt _her. And now? She's trying to get herself together. And I think you should back off for now."

Puck shook his head, and looked at Mike straight in the eyes. "You don't know how much I love her. Because right now, I sacrificed my life into coming into this house just to see if she's here. I just need to talk to her."

Mike stood back and walked towards the door. "I said it once, I'll say it again. You got the wrong person." Mike chuckled coldly. "Hey, how was that red-head in the club you took to your car the day right after Rachel left?"

Puck flared his nostrils. "I was drunk, and I stopped before it went too far."

Mike laughed bitterly again, and Puck knew Mike wouldn't believe him. "This is why I despise you, Puck. Rachel doesn't need this. And apparently, you don't either. I do feel bad about the whole Beth thing, but didn't you ever think that Rachel might have known more about that stuff than both of us combined? She was adopted and correct me if I'm wrong, she didn't want anything to do with her mother in the first place either."

Puck grabbed the strip of hair on his head in frustration. "Rachel's situation is different than mine! Shelby gave her up. I didn't want to give Beth up, Quinn did. It was all Quinn's idea and I couldn't do anything but agree with her. It takes two to take care of a kid, and I didn't have the money to support me and her at the same time."

Mike looked at him, not with the heated glare but still a little dread in them. "I'm sorry Puck, but there's really nothing you can do. With Beth, Rachel— only time will tell." Mike walked up to him and clamped a hand on his shoulder. "I don't hate you Puck, but you need time to yourself. Away from all this. I'd say two, maybe three weeks."

Puck sighed. "I was scared to come here because in reality, I don't want to see Rachel. I still kinda hate her, but I just needed to know if she's okay. I may not want to see her, but I have to know its fine between us." Puck rubbed his neck. "I-I think I do need time. I need time to think all this through and get my mind back on track. Everything just came so fast and the things I said weren't a solution."

Mike grabbed a beer from the fridge and passed it to Puck. "Take it easy, man." Mike grabbed another beer and cracked it open. "Y'know, there's a game on Saturday, me and Lucas are going over there with a couple of friends, you should come with us, it's a start, isn't it?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks man, I mean it. For a second I thought you were gonna rip my head off my body. I know how tight you and Rachel are. You guys are like brothers and sisters."

Mike sipped his beer and plopped himself on the couch. "Well, speaking of sisters. How's Bekah doing? Heard she's finishing college."

**A/N: Short, but next chapter we get to see the two meet up. Oh-la-la. Also, review, please. I need feedback. Thank you again guys, really.**


	4. Chapter 4

**You know what? I just started high school and I **_**hate **_**it. Especially in such a strict school where they give me homework **_**every day **_**in **_**every **_**class. But, I'm here now with an update! Woohoo! Also, I was listening to Day Gone By, by Colin Scott while writing this, so it would be A LOT better if you listen to it while you read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving Glee.**

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><p><em>Eight weeks...<em>

That is what's going through Rachel's mind as she makes her way to her new apartment she got a week ago. It's a small apartment twenty minutes away from her job and forty-five minutes away from Owen's house. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen that is attached to the living room and a closet. It feels lonely there, mostly because she's so used to living with someone for the past _twenty-four years_. She shared one with her dads, Noah, Owen, Kurt, and with her roommate she had for the first year of college before moving in with her ex-boyfriend. But for some reason, she likes the space. With all that went down she needed time for herself and to focus on anything besides her current relationship. Besides, the apartment isn't that bad. It's even right next to a playground where kids jump around and play.

Sometimes she sits down on the bench next to the slide and watches them. Watching children play comfort her for some reason, which is why she's one hundred percent sure she wants kids in the future. She likes the way they run to their mom when they feel bad or get her. It's like with the comfort of their mother they're magically cured. It's even better when they run to their father. She smiles every time a father comforts or plays with their child. It shows this side of them that always gets to them. It's sweet and shows their family-oriented trait. It reminded her of how much Noah loved Beth.

Noah hasn't called or tried to contact her for almost _three months._ She's starting to think it really was the end of them— of _Puckleberry. _She's still hurting inside. Noah was a big part of her life. They've been together for six years and he's been with her to her first audition, and held her when she didn't get a callback, supporting her as she applied to work as a secretary at a daycare during the mean time, when Burt passed away— everything that brought her to this point, technically. Everything she is today would not have happened if it wasn't for him standing right by her side. And it kills her to know he just gave it all up. It happened so fast, so sudden that she questioned herself if he was the same man he was when they were together during those first four years.

A silent tear filled with Rachel's sorrow rolled down her cheek, the cold November air drying it up as soon as it fell. She wrapped her arms around herself tighter, trying to warm herself up as much as she can with the little sweater she had wrapped around her body. _Stupid weather reports..._ she thought as she turned the corner twenty feet away from her house.

She felt the vibration of her phone that was in her Gucci purse Kurt bought her. She quickly pulled it out seeing _Owen _flashing every second, and pressed and slid the "Slide to Answer" button on her iPhone.

"Hello Owen," she said happily as she took out the keys to her apartment. "What brings this unexpected, yet lovely call?"

She could hear him moving around as if he's in some kind of rush. "Rachel I don't need a reason to call you."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door to her apartment, making her ways towards the stairs. "Yeah, you do. Because if you didn't, what's the reason you called?"

Owen chuckled on the other line. "Feisty, guys like that."

"I'm sure they do." She said as she approached her door. "But seriously, why did you call? Did something happen to Jason?" She asked.

Jason is Owen's brother who is currently in the hospital. He's been sick for awhile and Owen's mom recently took him to the hospital. Rachel knows Owen's been stressed for his six year old brother. He lost so much, and Rachel is worried about him and his brother. Rachel remembers the time Jason told her he loved her. It was the cutest, most heart-warming moment for Rachel. He's like Rachel's own little brother, and she cares deeply about him.

"No, it's not Jason— thank God. No, I was calling because I need the folder I left at your old house." Rachel blinked repeatedly, trying to remember the folder Owen was talking about.

It hit her all the sudden and she's cursing at herself. "Crap, I left it at Mike's house." She heard Owen groan. "When do you need it?"

"I need by tomorrow morning, Rach." Owen said.

Rachel looked at the time on her phone. 6:29.

She held the phone to her ear again. "Owen, I'll call Mike to see if he can bring it over here and you could pass by and get it."

"Alright, sounds fine. Thank you, Rach." He blew a kiss through the phone. "Love you, Rachel."

Rachel smiled. "I love you too, Owen." She hung up and searched her contacts as she finally opened her door and walked in.

She hasn't heard from him for a while now. Rachel gasped as she realized she hasn't spoke to him for a _long _time. She was mentally yelling at herself for being a bad friend to him. The last time she spoke to him, it was the day she broke up with Noah while she was lying on Owen's bed. Once she found his number, she pressed call and held the phone to her ear as it rang.

_Please don't be mad at me. Please don't be mad at me. Please—_

"Hello?"

Rachel froze, her movements becoming still and her heart beating five times faster. Her stomach churned, fading into the sweet touch of butterfly wings. She felt her heart sink deeper and her eyes well with tears.

_That's not Mike..._

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><p>Puck was at Mike's house when Rachel called Mike's phone. He was sitting on the couch with a control in his hands as he furiously hits the buttons repeatedly as he shoots at his opponent when Mike's phone rang. He had no intention on checking who was calling until Mike yelled from the kitchen to answer it. Puck rolled his eyes and lazily looked at the Caller ID. His eyes widen and his stomach churned when he sees its Rachel calling. He doesn't tell Mike who it is, and presses the "Answer Call" button.<p>

"Hello?" He says, the feeling of something swirling in his stomach not going away.

She heard her gasp, and closed his eyes. _Rachel..._

A pregnant silence until her angelic voice spoke. "N-Noah..."

He swallowed hard. _It is her. It's Rachel. After months...all those months, and it's her._

He clears his throat. "Rachel, hey— um, hey... Rachel. I mean— _fuck._" He breathed out; his throat tight like a knot is stuck through his esophagus.

He's runs his hand through his Mohawk and breathes out the air that his lungs were keeping hostage. He hasn't heard from her in four month and he misses her. It's not the same without her— _he's _not the same without her. Even Santana noticed it. She says he's more distant and less playful. In other words, he's out of it. And he knows it's because of Rachel leaving. These past month he has been taking his like Mike told him too, but it still doesn't fill in the hole he has in his heart.

He's not going to pretend like the past six years haven't happened. Yes, they dated for six years and he loved her— _still _loves her. Yeah, he's kind of pissed off that she left without telling him anything, but he hasn't heard from her for a long time and he misses her. And now that he heard her voice, all the anger flew out of him. And knowing that she's on the phone right now makes his heart jump around his rib cage with hope and relief.

She clears her throat. "Noah, hey... How are you doing?"

_She can't pretend like nothing happened, right? She's gotta be fucking kidding me... _"Rachel, where are you? I haven't heard from you after you disappeared out of nowhere." _Just rip the band aid out, right? No reason to walk around the subject._

"Noah, please. I don't want to talk about this right now. I just called to ask Mike about a—"

He scoffs. "Like hell I'm gonna wait to have this conversation. You didn't even call me and warn me that you were leaving— you didn't even _wait _for me. Instead, you pack your bags and just leave without a single note." He drops the control on the couch and makes his way to the bathroom so Mike wouldn't hear him. "You could have called and told me you were leaving."

Rachel gasped in disbelief. "_Call you_? You have no right to tell me _I _should have called you! I said if you walked out of that door, it was over between us and all you said was 'Good Riddance,' and left without another word. How was I supposed to react? Oh, he's just playing a prank on me I'll just wait here until he comes back. Well, you're wrong Noah. Besides, the phone works both ways."

Puck breathed in deeply before letting the air out, immediately calming him down. "Rachel, I don't want to fight..." _I want to see you, Rach. _"I just— can I see you? I... I need to see you and talk this out in person."

On the other line, Rachel bit her lip nervously, contemplating if she should say yes or no. "Noah, I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not..." She swallowed hard and tried to hold back her tears. "I'm still hurting, Noah. You _hurt _me that night and I just can't forget about it. I need time—"

"Time? _Time? _Rachel, was four months not enough for you? I understand, I needed time to clear my head myself, but I cleared my head four weeks after the fight. _Weeks_, Rachel. I don't need any more time. And I don't think you need any more time either." Puck said on the other line.

Rachel sighed. "I know, but you don't understand how hurt I am right now. You've been distant and every time I reached out to help you, you either yell at me or leave to Santana's house as if she was the one that you confided in and not me. I felt useless, and you did nothing to make me feel better. In fact, you made me feel worse. Then I questioned our relationship and if it was actually working, and that night you technically confirmed it by not staying and leaving knowing if you left it was the end of our relationship." Rachel felt the tears she's been holding back fall, and her voice began to shake. "Y-You made me believe our relationship was a joke, Noah. I can't and won't forget what you did. You even told me to fuck off!"

Puck closed his eyes tightly, the guilt gnawing his heart and stomach. "Rachel... don't think that. You know I lo—"

"I have to go, can you tell Mike to call me back as soon as he can?" She said in a rushed, shaky breath.

Puck gripped the phone tighter. "Don't hang up, please," He said desperately. He didn't want her to hang up yet, because then he's certain she would ignore his calls after. "Just... meet me somewhere. Where are you staying at? I'll go over there tomorrow morning and—"

_Please Noah, my heart is about to explode with pain. Stop it, please. _"I'll call when I'm ready, I promise."

He hated the idea of waiting to see her, but it's as far as he'll get. He'll take what she can give for now, no matter how much he hates it. "Fine, I'll wait."

She whispered a 'thank you' and was about to hang up until Puck told her to wait. "Yes?" Her voice sounds so weak making her seem fragile to Puck. It's like glass and he's afraid of doing anything to make it break.

"I-I... I miss you, Rach."

Rachel's face scrunched up and tears fell from her eyes even faster. Sobs raked her body, and sooner or later, she's going to crumble down. "Good night, Noah." She ended the call and let her sobs be the only sound in her apartment.

Puck let his head fall, causing it to hit the door, He closed his eyes tightly, trying to stop the heat welling up and tears to form. Mike knocked on the door and Puck pulled himself together before opening the door. Ignoring Mike's questioning gaze, he made his way to the couch and retrieved the remote he abandoned.

Puck killed twice as much soldier he had before; even his own teammates.

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><p>Rachel paced back and forth the small length of her room as she waited for Owen to come through the door.<p>

She's been freaking out since her talk with Noah, and she feels like her stomach as been filled with never ending fireworks. Her nerves were high and she's scared to know what would come out of that conversation: more heartbreak, more pain, more suffering. Or maybe it will bring closure, a cure, or even bring them back together. That's the problem, Rachel doesn't know. And she _hates _the unknown. In fact, that's why she planned her whole life. The unknown could do only two things to her; fly her up or bring her down. And the unexpected most likely will bring her down. Like what happened with Finn. She never thought or planned to be cheated on, and unfortunately, she did get cheated on. No, it wasn't her first tear or her first heartbreak, but it was the time she guarded her heart a little more. The walls she built were because of Finn, but the damage of it tumbling down was all Noah.

She raised her sweaty hands to her hair and clutched a lock of hair, her frustration reappearing. She finally heard the knock on her door and she thanked the God that was looking over her. She rushed towards the door, tripping on a shoe as she did and opened the door, revealing a confused Owen. She grabbed his shirt and pushed him inside, ignoring his offended comments.

"Hey, what is your fucking problem?" Owen said as he recovered from being pulled— no, _hauled _into his best friend's apartment.

Rachel shut the door with her body and leaned on it, her hand shaking as it was planted firmly on the door on either side of her. "I talked to Noah,"

Owen's eyebrows shot up and the sides of his mouth dropped. "Puck called you? What did he say to you? I swear to God, if he said anything to hurt you I'll bust his skull open."

Rachel's eyes widened. "What? Owen! Violence is not the answer, you know that. And second of all, no. He didn't say something to hurt me, on purpose at least." Rachel sighed and pushed herself off the door, looking at Owen's tall and muscular frame tense and un-tense. "I meant to call Mike, but instead of Mike answering the phone it was Noah."

Owen sat down on the red velvet couch and plopped his feet on the coffee table. "What did he say to you? That's all I want to know, because nothing else matters. It's what he said and if he offended you. If he did, then that's just the green light I need to punch the fucker in the face and—"

"Owen," Rachel said cold and firmly. "Are you here to help me out and comfort me or are you hear for permission to punch my ex-boyfriend and ignore everything I'm saying? Because if you are, the door is right there and you could start making your way out."

Owen's jaw dropped and his eyes slightly widened. Rachel's cold glare was an indication she wasn't playing around. Owen sighed and pushed his feet off the coffee table. "Alright, I'm sorry."

Rachel nodded. "Thank you,"

Owen patted the space next to him and Rachel made her way over there, the silky fabric of her pajama's brushing her thigh and plopped down. Owen wrapped his arms around her small figure, and Rachel rested her head on his shoulder. She always felt better when Owen would caress her like this. It reminded her of the nights Noah would cuddle with her after their late night "activities". She felt so much love back then and nothing seemed to matter. So many things have changed since then.

Owen kissed the crown of her head. "Did he mention Beth?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, he was talking about how hurt he was when I left and that I should have told him I left or waited for him. I couldn't handle it, Owen. I felt like crying once I heard his voice. I _did _cry, actually. It was… overwhelming. The hurt, the pain he put me through was what reminded me that I couldn't say I love him. But… I do love him. And I don't think I'll ever stop. I'm scared, Owen. Why am I scared?"

"I don't know why you're scared. Only you know why, Rach. I think it's because you don't want to get your heart broken three times. But listen, remember when you told Finn you'd always love him but you couldn't stay with him? This is history repeating itself, and all you have to do is say what you said before with Finn. It's a similar situation. Same shit, different toilet."

Rachel giggled. "Do you have to be so vulgar while giving advice?" Rachel sighed and breathed in. "Owen, this isn't the same. Finn betrayed me. He _cheated _on me. Noah… he let me go when I our relationship was at stake. I can't talk to Finn without thinking about him cheating on me. I probably can't look at Noah without thinking about how he let me go, either. But… Noah was my best friend. He still is. Finn was never my friend before we dated, and maybe that's why I couldn't befriend him. I just can't live without Noah, you know? He helped me through so much and I need him to remain there."

Owen pulled away a little to look at her face. She was being totally honest. Owen sighed and unwrapped his arms that were around her, locking his hands together on his lap. "When Lea died, my mother was the one helping me through it."

Rachel straightened herself, now looking at him with sympathy in her eyes. Owen never talked about Lea unless he missed her so much. Rachel knew him talking about Lea was rare, and she knew it was her turn to comfort him at this moment. She grasped his shaking hands, and ran her thumb on his skin soothingly, a texture he loves to feel.

Owen breathed deeply for a few seconds. "Lea and I… we were endgame. I couldn't imagine my life without her when we were together. She kept me out of trouble and put me on my spot when I was misplaced. She was my life saver." Owen swallowed hard, trying to calm himself down. "After she… after she died, I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't think of a world without her by my side. My future was ruined, and I blamed myself. I was up to no good, and she put me on blast in front of my friends. I was pissed off and told her off to embarrass her. I broke up with her that night and didn't bother to call her. How I wish I could take everything back. I wouldn't have done that if I knew her life was already falling apart."

Rachel saw a tear fall on his pale cheek and she found herself crying too. Owen didn't deserve this. Owen was a troubled teen and let the moment get to him. Rachel grabbed his hand, wishing to take all the pain he felt away. She knew she couldn't. No one could ever take his pain away no matter how much they tried.

"Owen, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring back old memories. I just—"

Owen squeezed her hand. "It's fine. I just… I just miss her. I miss her so much, it kills me inside, but nothing can be killed if it had no soul to begin with."

Rachel hugged. "Don't say that. You have a soul and a good one too. The only thing that's missing is the one you gave your soul to. And the one that gave theirs." Rachel saw more tears escape his eyes. "Lea is still here. She wants you to be happy, and just because she ended her life doesn't mean she wants you to end yours."

Owen wrapped his arms around Rachel and cried silently.

Rachel comforted him like he did to her all these weeks. Rachel couldn't imagine the pain Owen went through. And she's sort of glad that she didn't because if that happened to her, she would probably be contemplating suicide the minutes she hears Noah's dead.

She cries more, and realizes at that moment that she can't live without Noah. She needs him in her .life.

She decides to call him as soon as she's ready. And she just hopes it's sooner rather than later.

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><p><strong>Review, please. I'm begging you. Also, I still need a BETA! Inbox me if you're interested!<strong>

**REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry! I know how I said I would update every Saturday, but now I take Saturday classes to win money for learning (How awesome is that?) and I'm very occupied. BUT, I updated today! I still need a BETA, so PLEASE! PM me if you're interested!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, yadda, yadda, yadda.**

"Puckerman, you don't have to leave, y'know." Santana said, watching Puck pack all his belongings into a suitcase.

Puck grabbed his toiletries and shoved them inside the pocket. "Santana, I can't keep living with you. It's not gonna make the situation better and besides, I need to move into my place again. I can't just leave it there. The only reason I lived here was because—"

Santana crocked her head. "Rachel?" Puck froze for a second before he continued packing his clothes. Santana walked towards her stressed friend and placed her perfectly manicured hand on his shoulder. "Puck, have you ever thought about moving on?"

Puck narrowed his eyes at Santana and looked at her like she just grew two heads. "Santana, we dated for six years."

"Yeah, and you've been broken up for almost five months." She snapped back.

Puck was about to respond but instead he chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "You wouldn't get it."

Santana crocked her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean? Don't start this shit with me, Puckerman."

"No, in fact, I'm gonna start this _shit _with you." Puck dropped his dress shirt that he was about to fold and marched up to her. "You never liked Rachel for God knows why, but I did—no, I loved her. And I still do! I never stopped loving her. And now that I'm trying to make things better because of _my _doing, it's wrong? You wouldn't know love even if your sex-life fucking depended on it!"

Santana's eyes were blazing with fire. "Shut up, you asshole! That's not true, and you fucking know it!"

"Oh yeah, because you _loved _Brittany so much you didn't even bother to fight for her." Santana's eyes were starting to tear up, but that didn't stop Puck from getting his point across. "Wanna recap what happened? How Brittany said if you told her to stay, she would? For you?"

Santana looked down at her feet, not in shame but to hide the emotions that were brewing inside of her. "You would never understand because you're too selfish and care about your own fucking self."

Puck's nostrils flared. "Bullshit, San!"

"How you only cared about letting your anger out and numbing the pain you felt, not caring at all about how Rachel would feel!" Santana looked at him and started to poke his chest for emphasis. "You didn't even think about what would happen if you left that house, you just left! I on the other fucking hand left because I knew her dreams were to teach kids how to dance back in Boston. Why would I keep her from her dream? Why would I let her give up everything for me? Everything she dreamed of?"

Puck grabbed her finger and shoved it away from him. He walked away, picking up the dress shirt he dropped. "Did you ever get your mind around the idea that one of Brittany's biggest dream was to stick with you and you to stick with her? To live with you? Because those tears in her eyes when she was saying goodbye to you weren't out of joy. Believe me, they weren't."

Puck opened his drawer and took all his shirts and shoved them inside the suitcase a bit angrily. Before he could grab more shirts from the drawer, Santana grabbed his wrist making him drop the pile of shirts he had on the floor and face the fuming brunette. Puck growled and snatched his hand off of Santana's grip. He grabbed both of her wrists and pushed her away.

"Don't touch me!"

"Look at you, you clueless asshole!" Santana rubbed her sore wrists. "You don't know anything between me and Brittany and the fact that you brought it up is low. Even for you." Santana grabbed her purse that was sitting on the little desk chair in the corner of the room.

Puck rolled his eyes and grabbed his shirts and started to pack again. Santana was walking towards the door but before she could leave, she stopped and said, "I don't hate Rachel. And the reason I'm trying to stop isn't because I don't like her. You're not in the right state of mind for this; you're still hurting from the whole Beth thing. And one day, you'll cross a line with Rachel." She then proceeded to walk away.

Puck was staring at the floor, taking in what Santana said and clutching his NYU shirt. Puck blew out a breath, and shook his head.

_What does she know? She knows nothing about what's going on. _Puck threw his shirt inside the luggage and walked to the living room to grab his belongings.

"Brian, you grab your pencil like this. You see how I have the pencil over my middle finger— no, wrong finger. Are you trying to play a funny game with Ms. Berry, Brian?" Rachel placed the top of the pencil on top of the little boy's middle finger. "And now, you write."

Brian placed the tip of the pencil on his paper, trying to make the letter "B", only for it to come out as a "P" with a tiny circle on the bottom. Rachel smiled when she saw the little four year old get up and claps his hands together, having accomplished making a "B".

"I did it!" Brian exclaimed.

Rachel laughed, and clapped her hands. "Yes, you did! Here, take it and go show it to Mr. Wright." Rachel smiled even more when she saw the little boy grab the piece of paper and run towards Owen, who was putting away the paint brushes. Brian was jumping up and down, and Owen was looking at him with amusement in his eyes and a smile gracing his lips. Then, Owen held out his hand for the boy to high-five it, which he did.

Rachel got up from the blue chair, and pushed it inside the round table. She smiled at all the kids fighting for the computer, wanting to go on PBS kids. "Hey, Joshua! It's Paola's turn. You had your turn already."

Joshua, the kid with the soft curls on top of his head, was fuming and throwing a tantrum, repeated yelling "I wanna play! I wanna play!"

Rachel walked towards him and grabbed his hands. "C'mon, let's go help Mr. Wright with the materials, okay?"

Joshua shook his head and tried to yank his arm away from Rachel's grip. Rachel held on tight and crouched down so she could be at eye-level with the fusing kid. "Hey, you can't do that. That's what bad boys do, they fight and yell. Are you a bad boy?" Joshua shook his head. "Then let Paola play. You have to share. Remember our motto. What's our motto?"

"Our motto is sharing is caring..." He said, hiding his face.

Rachel smiled. "Good boy, now come here and give Ms. Berry a hug and then you can go play with Randy. You like playing with Randy, right? You're friends!" Joshua smiled and ran towards Rachel, hugging her. Rachel let out a small "Ump!" Before smiling and hugging the boy tighter.

"Play nice, okay?" She called out to Joshua as he started to run towards the toy box where Randy was.

Rachel walked towards Owen who was with little Katie, who was handing him the materials that fell on the floor. "Hey, Katie!"

She smiled up at her and mumbled a soft 'hello'. Owen looked at Rachel with a smile as a greeting. "Joshua tantrum?"

She sighed. "Yes, this time it was because of the computer."

Owen chuckled and thanked Katie after all the materials were picked up from the floor. Katie picked up her toy dog from the floor and walked away.

Rachel started gathering the crayons and putting them back in their boxes. "Arts and Crafts are a pain."

Owen sighed in exhaustion. "Tell me something I don't know. Hey, where's Olivia? Wasn't she supposed to help with the kids today as well?"

Rachel dumped the box of crayons on the Arts and Crafts box. "She left early... again." Rachel wrapped her red sweater around her tighter, the AC air making contact with her skin, making it pucker up with goosebumps. "Seriously, Mr. Patterson should just fire her. She's no help in this daycare and a lot of people could use this job."

"Yeah, but remember she's just eighteen. She doesn't know any better than to run off with her boyfriend." Owen put the box next to all the other boxes. He rubbed his hands together and blew into them, trying to warm them.

Rachel smirked at him. "I told you to bring a sweater." Owen just stuck his tongue out at her and she giggled. "Oh, I need to make a phone call. Is that okay?"

Owen nodded. "Yeah, just don't run away with your boyfriend."

Rachel rolled her eyes and walked towards the door, calling out, "I make no promises!"

She could hear the voices of multiple kids calling out, "Ms. Berry! Don't go!" Rachel smiled sadly at no one in particular. Every time she hears the kid's sad, teary voices, her heart breaks a little inside. Her weakness is kids, hands down. That's why she loves kids so much. Their innocent faces and how they look up at you makes it seem like you're the only one they can rely on. And when they start to grow up, so does their innocence and that's when they need you the most.

Rachel grabbed her phone out of her pocket and dialed Puck's number. She deleted it because she thought she didn't need it anymore, but could never expect the unexpected.

She holds the phone to her ear and bites the inside of her lip. She wonders if Puck would agree with her proposal. Probably not, but he won't choose to stay away from her forever... right?

"Hello?"

Rachel's heart is hammering against her rib cage, her stomach swelling up. "H-Hey Noah, its Rachel."

"Hey! I wasn't expecting you to call today. Or tomorrow." He said.

She giggled. "Um, yeah. It's been four day since the last time I talked to you and what you said got me thinking. Y'know, about me needing time." She said, her voice coming out smoothly while her throat tightened. She's so nervous she wouldn't be surprised if she threw up right in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Wait, weren't we gonna meet up to talk about this? I mean, it would be a lot better to be face-to-face when we talk about what's gonna happen between us, don't you think?"

"Um, yeah. T-That's what you said. But I just... I wanted to tell you something before we meet." She walked towards a bench and sat on it before quickly getting up when her skin made contact with the cold metal bench.

"When are we gonna meet?"

"I-I was thinking tomorrow, we could meet up at that pizza shop near the daycare for lunch." She said, glancing at the pizza shop that was in her view.

"Yeah, I'm free by then. So, um, what was it you wanted to say to me?"

"Well, I ah... I sort of—" She took a deep breath, trying to calm down her nerves. "I-I, I missed you too, Noah."

She bit the inside of her cheek and was shifting from one foot to the other as a pregnant pause came from the other side of the phone. _C'mon, say something. Anything! I feel pathetic now. I bet he doesn't even remember when he said it four days ago. Urgh! Now he knows I was thinking about our discussion for the past four days! This is so embarrassing. I shouldn't have said that. I should just hang up now and pretend I never said that, dammit! Why isn't he answering? I swear if he's just playing with me I'm—_

"You don't know how much that means to me..." She sighed in relief, no longer feelings embarrassed. "When you didn't say anything before, I thought it was really over between us. I didn't know what to think. I honestly thought I fucked everything up."

Rachel closed her eyes. _Dammit, why did you have to say that? _

Rachel nodded silently. "Well I should probably go. I have to go back inside with the kids." She said, shifting from foot to foot again.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. I-I really can't wait to see you tomorrow."

Rachel started to walk back inside the daycare. "Goodnight, Noah." And she quickly hung up as she approached the room Owen and the kids were in.

"Ms. Berry! Mr. Wright said you're gonna sing to us again!" Lisa exclaimed, a little chunky brunette who's always so jolly.

Rachel smiled at them and sat on the rocking chair where Owen was with his violin. "Star Bangeled Banner?" The kids shouted out their agreements and Rachel laughed.

The next day, Rachel was making her way to the pizza shop, her long hair in a ponytail and still in her work clothes which was a yellow T-Shirt that said Kid's Wonderland on the chest and a regular pair of jeans that hugged her hips and legs well. She wonders how long it would take for her to throw her uniform away to replace it with a Maria costume from the West Side Story. She's been low on money and is practically another New Yorker whose talent has not yet been noticed and patience is what could be met by now. She still plans on being in Broadway. But right now she just got out of college and she still needs to get accustomed to New York. But it will be soon.

She looks through the window of the pizza shop to see if Puck was there. And there he was, looking at the TV in the corner of the store and playing around with the salt and pepper on the table. She smiles softly as she remembers the time they were watching a Football game at a bar and he couldn't stop playing around with the salt and pepper. She would tell him to put it down for him to start stacking them on top of each other. It's what he does when he's trying to do something with his hands besides touching her.

She pulls on the end of her ponytail and fixes her shirt before walking inside the pizza store. He immediately looks up and when he sees Rachel, he can't stop the smile that appears on his face. He feels like he hasn't seen her for ages and it's just a relief that right in front of him is no other than the his ex-girlfriend.

"Hey, Rach." He says, as she sat down across from him.

She notices her biting her lip softly. "Hello there, Noah. How are you?"

_Really? You're starting the conversation by saying that? _"I've been better. How about you? The kids driving you crazy again?"

She lets out a sigh and runs her hand through her hair. "God yes. They're always making a mess and fighting for the computer. But I still love them. They're like my own children, I could never hate them."

Puck nodded in understanding. He tapped his foot silently, and played with the pepper a bit. The silence between them sent a wave of awkwardness between the two exes. Rachel doesn't know what she should do. Should she just rip the band-aid off and start talking about the day they broke up and getting down to business? Or should she talk about other things and avoid the topic until later? She fidgets a little and looks around the shop.

"Hey, are you hungry? We could get something if you like." She said.

Puck nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sure. I didn't eat anything this morning."

As Rachel waved for the waiter to come, he looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"I slept in and when I woke up, it was about to be two so I hurried down here." He explained.

Rachel ordered a large pizza, one side meat and pepperoni and the other side vegan before turning to him again. "So… how was your week?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's cut the crap. Why are we acting like we're strangers and we're meeting for a blind date? We've known each other for as long as I can remember."

Rachel sighed. "I don't know, maybe it's because we haven't seen each other for a while now."

Puck put the salt and pepper back on the table and leaned back on his chair. "I wonder why."

Rachel sat up straight and looked at him with slightly angered eyes. "You know why, I don't have to explain to you why."

Puck chuckled. "Actually, you do. What I don't get is that we've fought a million times before and because of this particular fight you chose to leave without any trace of where you might've gone."

"I was sick and tired of fighting with you because you chose to take your anger out on me for something I didn't even do! Like seriously, do you remember anything you told me?" She snapped back quietly, not wanting to grab attention.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that you overreacted just a little bit. Half of the things I said didn't even mean anything! And stop acting like I'm the only bad guy here. You said some things too. You're not exactly innocent." He bit back, crossing his arms across his chest.

Rachel breathed in, and then slowly let the air out through her nose, calming herself down. "I wouldn't have said anything if you haven't started the fight. For some reason, it's like everything I did angered you. You even yelled at me for dropping a plate! A freaking plate, Noah! You don't get it, do you?"

"Stop saying I don't get it. Everyone is saying I don't get things. What is it with people thinking that I'm too stupid to get what's going on, huh?" He asked, raising his voice a little.

"No one is calling you stupid, Noah. The things you said hurt me, do you not get it? That's why I left, because you kept abusing me verbally—"

"How, huh? What are some things I said, tell me. Make a fucking book out of it while you're at it because apparently it was so _bad _that you left me worried and heartbroken for months!"

"You weren't the only one heartbroken, Noah! Stop acting like this is my entire fault! I left because of _you_! You made me leave even if it weren't your intentions. You drove me away." She said as if it were a fact.

Both of their anger was increasing while their words escalated the tension and heat. Puck's nostrils would flare and his eyes were blazing with fire, while Rachel's lips would quiver and her face would get red. Luckily the people in the store were too engrossed on the game to be paying attention to the fighting exes.

Puck growled. "It's like you didn't even care about our relationship. You didn't bother to tell me what was wrong; all you did was fight back."

"And you would distance yourself form me! Every time I wanted to eat like a couple you would either say you're not hungry or that you already ate! When I wanted to do movie nights, all you'd do is walk to the room and fall asleep! The only time you agreed on doing something together was when I asked for sex! _You _didn't care about our relationship because it was obvious that it was falling apart when you get that phone call from Shelby. Not me." Rachel's face was redder than before, her anger obviously showing through her appearance.

Puck was about to say something, but the waiter came with their order. Rachel said a quick thank you, but Puck remained quite. After the waiter was gone, Rachel looked back at Puck whose eyes were a darker color than before. They always darken when he's upset, scared, or turned on.

He shakes his head. "It's like you guys expect me to take the news that my daughter doesn't want me in her life perfectly fine. Guess again, princess, I'm heartbroken. You know how much Beth meant to me and you of all people should know I was gonna act like I am today."

"Noah, I know it hurts. But don't you think that from a girl who was adopted herself would know how she was feeling?" She reasoned.

Puck chuckled bitterly. "No, it's not the same. You're different because you were bullied; your life was a living hell. And I doubt Beth's life is gonna be like that."

Rachel glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Puck looked at her, his eyes showing her that Noah was no longer here with her. _Please don't say it, please don't say it. Please…_

"Beth is actually pretty, she's popular, nobody hates her, everybody wants a daughter like that, and the reason she was adopted was to have a better life, not because she was unwanted."

Rachel eyes were sparkling from the light, the tears welling up. She knew it was coming, but it still hurt like the first time. She bit her lip trying to keep her composure, but even as she lifted her head the tears ran down her face like race cars on a train track driving away from the train. Puck sat up straighter when he saw the tears and his heart clenched and unclenched.

"Rachel, I didn't mean that I swear I—"

"I'm leaving." Rachel got up and started making her way out of the store.

Puck got up to his feet. "Rach, wait. Hear me out."

Rachel turned around and her eyes were full of hurt and anger. "Don't follow me! Stop following me, I'm done with this!"

Rachel ran out of the store and ran outside. Puck was about to go after her, but then the waiter from before marched up to him. "Sir, you have to pay for that!"

Puck bit the insides of his cheeks, restraining himself from saying anything. He'll let her go now, but she better be prepared to see him tomorrow early in the fucking morning.

**A/N: READ AND REVIEW! Please review! I need your opinion!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: 11/11/11 3 I STILL NEED A BETA! Seriously, I don't like reading back to see I've made... what, twenty mistakes? Please! I really need a BETA. That's all I ask for.**

**Also, I know you guys are confused about some things in this story. I'm making this story based on my best friend (He's like Owen to me) who had MAJOR anger problems because of something that happened to him. So in this story, Puck doesn't actually mean what he's saying to Rachel, but when you're going through a hard time (Beth) you tend to black-out sometimes and let your anger out, and not remember what you said or you don't take what you said as bad as it is. It's a serious problem. And for Beth, she's nine years old in this story and later on in the story, you'll find out why she doesn't want anything to do with Puck.**

**And as tempting as it is... Rachel and Owen are NOT going to form a relationship. They have a serious friendship that I love :3 If there will be another guy to give Puck a run for his money, well, we'll just have to wait and see ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but OC characters are mine and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.**

Rachel is biting her nails, pacing back and forth in the kitchen of her apartment, the doorbell ringing repeatedly at eight o'clock in the morning. She wasn't expecting it. No, out of everything, this is what she _least _expected to happen to her today. She knew who was at the door. She's not an idiot. If his pounding wasn't any indication, it was surely to be the sound of a small paper clip in her key hole trying to pick-lock it. The only thing she's confused is as to why he's here. And how did he even know where she was currently living? The only person who knows where she lives is Owen and Mike. She knows Owen didn't tell him. Dear God, Owen wanted to break Puck's spine in half and watch him crawl with half his body pointing in the opposite direction! And Mike? Last time they spoke, Puck answered the phone. So, she's positive Mike might have told him where she lived.

She let out a quite sob as Puck pounded on the door once again. Her fingers were shaking where they were centimeters away from her mouth. She jumped again as his pounding grew harder and harder. A silent tear ran down her face, many emotions held in one single drop of salty water. She quickly wiped it away, remembering her promise to herself to not cry for him anymore. She blew out a long breathe, calming down her heart beats. Seriously, if she was on a heart monitor, the neon green light will go up and down faster than you can say Broadway. She doesn't know why her heart is beating so hard. She can't be nervous. She's known him since high school, and dating for six.

"Rachel!"

_Oh, my God..._

Rachel's heart immediately stopped. Her throat was constricting so bad, she thought she was having a heart attack.

"Rachel, we need to talk! I'm not leaving until I talk to you. Seriously, open the door!" He yells through the door.

Rachel heard a door open, and then a females voice saying, "Sir, stop pounding on the door! My kids are trying to sleep!"

She heard him scoff. "No, I'm not gonna stop. And your kids better suck it up because I'm not leaving any time soon."

"I will call the cops on you for entering an apartment building and disturbing the peace!"

Once the cops were mentioned, Rachel hurried to the door and opened it revealing her ex-boyfriend looking up the stairs where a woman stood, her phone in hand and eyes glaring at Puck. Puck looked down and looked at Rachel with eyes filled with...anger?

Rachel looked up to her neighbor. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Wall. It will never happen again, I promise."

Ms. Wall raised her eyebrows. "Is that young man your boyfriend, Ms. Berry?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, Karen. He's not. He's just a friend from high school. He's a bit in a bad mood, I'm sorry. He won't be a problem anymore." Puck's eyebrows narrowed and he looked at Rachel like if she just said two plus two is eight.

Ms. Wall shook her head, and walked back inside her apartment. Rachel grabbed Puck's arm and pushed him inside her apartment with as much force she can. She closed the door behind her and locked it before turning to him with anger and hate.

"What the hell is your problem, Noah? Why are you here?" She said as calmly as she can with her teeth clenched and her hands holding the door knob for dear life. "I made it clear yesterday to that I'm done with all this."

Puck crossed his arms and glared at her. "Yeah, after you left me to pay for your food, right?"

Rachel's jaw dropped and she let go of the door knob. "You're here to yell at me about how I let you _pay for my food_? Un-freaking-believable! Puck, what happened yesterday was a mistake, okay? I shouldn't have invited you because I should have known I wouldn't even get my thoughts out without you fighting with me!"

Puck remained still, his arms crossed and head held high. Rachel walked up to him, finger repeatedly poking his hard pecs. "I wanted to try and sort of fix us so we wouldn't hate each other for the rest of our lives! And the only thing I get is me being insulted, accused, and yelled at! I thought it was all over; the fighting, the hurt, being called names again. That's what you're doing to me right now! You're hurting me, and I need you to stop! Okay? Just... stop! I didn't even do anything to you! Your mother didn't do anything to you, yet you still hurt us! When was the last time you even talked to her?"

Puck remained silent, not a single move made. Rachel stared at him, waiting for him to say anything, but his whole body was still and cold. It's like if you pressed the pause button and everything froze. Rachel was getting angrier by the second. Puck just stood still, his eyes showing no emotion at all. She knows Puck can't stay still for that long. Neither of them could stay still for a long time without saying anything. So, Rachel was determined to stay quiet until he moved or said something. The silent tick-tock from the pink clock on the wall was the only noise you could hear. Puck's eyes were boring into Rachel's and Rachel felt like she was shrinking under his gaze.

_Why isn't he saying anything? Why is he all the sudden quite? _

Rachel was losing patience really fast. She could feel herself slowing closing in and sooner or later she's going to burst out. Rachel closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose.

_Easy in, easy out. Easy in, easy out._

Rachel's eyes fluttered open, her brown eyes showing how tired and done she was with this whole thing.

"Puck, I think you should go. When you're done doing... whatever you're doing, please see your way out." Rachel walked into the kitchen and picked up her purse and phone, making her way to her room.

When Rachel walked by Puck, he grabbed her arm and pushed her against the closest wall. Rachel's heart started beating rapidly, one of her hands above her head and the other on Puck's chest. Rachel eyes were wide open, her phone and purse inches away from her feet, the items forgotten. She noticed his face was inches away from her, close enough to take her breath away and disappear somewhere inside her lungs. She looked down and noticed every part of her body was pressed against his, his hand barely touching her arm and the other griping her hip. She looked back up and noticed that his hazel eyes have turned into a dark brown.

Puck inched his face closer to Rachel's, his breath hitting the warm skin on her cheek. He's staring at her lips and she knows it. Problem is she can't stop him.

_Push him off, Rachel! Push him off! What are you doing? Stop! You have to stop. You're going to make this situation worse!_

She knows she should stop, but she just can't. Something about him just makes her putty in his hands. He makes her melt in his embrace. Makes her unstoppable... She knows the net day she's going to feel stupid about doing this. But at the moment, she could care less. She's secretly giving him permission. And she's almost positive he's going to take once the light turns green.

Rachel can feel his heart beating fast, and she wonders if her heart beats as fast as his. Or maybe twice as fast as his, she can't tell.

"Noah..." She breathes out when she feels his hand rub her hips gently, his other hand intertwining their hands together.

"Why'd you walk out on me?" He whispers in her ear, nuzzling his nose in her hair and rubbing her hips a bit rougher.

She lifted her leg enough to wrap it around his calf. "You drove me away, remember?" The hand that was on his chest started moving up and down his broad shoulders, causing him to nip at the skin below her ear. "You've been pushing me away for awhile now."

He let go of her hand, running it down her hips down her leg that was wrapped around his calf until he reached her thigh. He grabbed it and hoisted it. "I wasn't pushing you away because if I was, I wouldn't want you so bad right now. Not just physically."

"You push me away with your anger—the way you treat me." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She's starting to see Noah. Noah caressed her like this... how much she misses Noah.

Puck pressed a light kiss on her shoulder, slowing moving up the side of her neck. "What about the way you treat me?"

"I don't treat you bad. You're the one that keeps ignoring me, calling me names, and yelling at me."

Puck looked up. "You keep bringing up Beth. You know better than to bring her up, Berry."

"I was just trying to help you understand where Beth is coming from. I don't want to see you sad and hurting. And by trying to help, I get yelled at, you call me names, you go look comfort from Santana and you know I feel uncomfortable with you hanging out with her due to your past with her. You take my insecurities and swat them away as if they were annoying flies getting in your way. That hurts me." Rachel felt his hand rubbing her thighs and she snapped out of her little daze. She started to move away, but Puck grabbed her hand that was pushing him away.

"I never called you names, Rachel. Stop pushing me away." He said.

Rachel's mouth hung open, and then she glared at him. "Yes, you did!"

Puck narrowed his eyes. "Stop lying, Rachel. I never called you names. Only in high school, but I'm over that and you know that."

"Stop it! Stop saying that! You've called me a lot of names, Noah. You've called me bitch, prude, stupid, a loser—you even called me a jealous about you and Santana! Don't you remember? You said I was unwanted yesterday by my own mother and implied that I was uglier than Beth who is the exact replica of Quinn!" She yelled at him, looking at him as if he grew four heads.

"Where are you getting this from, Rachel? I never called you a bitch or a prude or whatever other words you said! Now stop making this all up! Seriously, enough is enough. You're making it look like I'm the bad guy here. If you're gonna continue lying, I'm out of here." Puck said making his way out of her apartment.

"You are! I'm not lying, Puck!" She screamed.

Puck stopped. Rachel saw his body tense up and she just stood there, leaning on the wall her and Puck were in an intimate embrace a few minutes ago. Puck turned around and she saw the look of confusion turn to hurt, and then anger. He stalked up to her and got right in her face. Rachel was unfazed by it.

"What did you call me?"

Rachel held her head high, but her heart was increasing its beats. "You're not Noah to me anymore. Noah was the man I fell in love with in senior year, and you're not him. You're the little boy who bullied me and teased me to no end. You're Puck, and I want nothing to do with I guy like that."

Once she saw the hurt in his eyes, she wanted to take the words back. But the truth needed to be said. She needed him to realize that he's not the guy she thought he was. The Noah she knew was still there, but was too weak and caged in to come out. And the hurt in his eyes... it came from Noah. And that's what makes her heart crumble and eyes well up in her eyes. She didn't want to hurt Noah, but she wanted him to suffer the consequences of bringing Puck—the guy that ruined her hopes before, back into her life. Puck is Noah's mask, and when he exposed himself to her, she immediately fell in love. Now seeing puck is making her fall apart once again.

Puck looked down at his shoes, trying to understand where all this is coming from.

Rachel breathed in deeply. If the truth is coming out, might as well say everything that's on her mind.

"You went as far as hurting me… physically."

Puck's head shot up and his eyes were wide open. Rachel could now see the hurt, anger, pain, confusion, disbelief, and other feelings swimming in his eyes like water. Puck shook his head.

"No… No, I never hit you. I'd never hit you, Rachel. I'm not like that, I don't hit girls! I've never hit a girl. I _wouldn't _hit a girl—especially you. I would never hurt you. You've got to be lying to me."

Rachel's heart broke into a billion pieces. "Oh, Noah…" She bit her lip, and shut her eyes tight, the tears running down her face like a waterfall.

He saw no doubt in her face, and he slowly backed away. Rachel saw his eyes fill with tears, but not yet falling down his face. His whole body was trembling, and Rachel wanted nothing more than to calm him down and soothe out all the pain and worry in him. Rachel knows when Puck cries, he's really hurting inside.

_That makes two of us…_

He covered his face with his hands and slowly ran his hands down his face. "W-When?"

Rachel bit her trembling lip, and looked up at him. "Huh?"

"When did I… hit you?"

Rachel looked down at the floor. "W-When I said you should move on and forget about Beth. I-I know you didn't mean it, and I'm not going to r-repot you. It was an accident, Noah. You didn't mean it, a-and it wasn't that bad. I understand—"

In a flash of the moment, Puck hauled at the wall and punched it with a yell, making a hole. Rachel screamed, and covered her mouth with her hand to suppress the heavy, heart-wrenching sobs. Puck was leaning against the wall, fist still inside the wall. Rachel heard a quiet sob, and she knew it was from Noah. She started to make her way to him, but as she got closer, Puck backed away as if she was kryptonite.

"D-Don't get close to me Rachel. I don't— I can't…" Puck pressed on his eyelids with his fore-finger. "I'm just like my old man. I swore not to be like him, and look at what I did! What I am! I'm losing everything! My daughter, the love of my life, my life, my sanity…"

Rachel shook her head. "Noah, you are _not _your father! Your father left you behind and never looked back, but you're still here. You're here fighting for me, and fighting for Beth."

"I hit you, Rachel. I don't deserve you! I'm worse than Finn, than my dad— worse than everybody that ever hurt you." Puck crouched down and put his head in his hands.

"Noah, stop saying that. Finn gave away our relationship for a meaningless fuck, and your dad left your mom to deal with being a single mother. You're still here! And you never did any of those things to me." Rachel walked up to him again, but this time he didn't move. She crouched down near him. She rubbed his shoulders as he cried silently.

"Did I punch you? Or slap you?" He asked.

Rachel shook her head. "Nothing like that. You just pushed me against the bookshelf, that's it." She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. A silent tear ran down his tan face. "I forgive you, Noah. But unfortunately, I can't forget about it. I'm still hurting. I won't be able to be with you any time soon. I'm still broken, but I can be repaired. There's a chance for us again… but not any time soon. I need time. And you need time too."

Noah shook his head. "I don't need time, Rach. I need help and I need you. You're the antidote I need."

Rachel let go of his face. "I'll still be here, but we're going to have to stay as friends. Like I said before, you hurt me and just because it's because you need help, it doesn't take away the insecurity and pain. As a female, I take things personally. And what you said— everything you said caused me to feel as insecure as I was before and after Finn."

Noah looked up at her. "I'm gonna get help. I'm gonna see a therapist, or maybe take anger management classes. I'm gonna get better, I promise. Just don't leave me."

Rachel hugged him. "I won't. I promise."

**A/N: Please leave a review. You can suggest ideas for this story because I'm literally writing it as I go. But I do have idea for certain characters for this story. Again, there's a lot to come and characters to see including Beth, Shelby, Finn, Brittany (I love Britanna), Kurt, Blaine… Quinn. A lot of characters! **

**I really need a BETA. THAT'S ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS! A BETA! PLEASE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I've been busy, and I'm really sorry for not updating in, what? Two weeks? Three? Anyways, I apologize. I still need a BETA. Seriously, if you're interested, PM me. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>"Mr. Puckerman, my name is Fanny Hills; I am in charge of this anger management program. Please, have a seat with the rest of us and we'll begin today's session."<p>

Puck rolled his eyes and sat on the empty seat far away from Fanny who is a thin—very thin—redhead who is sitting near the door. She's probably making sure nobody walks out during the middle of the session. Who knows, maybe someone will jump out of the window because of her annoying nasal voice. Seeing as this is an anger management program, some pretty crazy stuff happen in this place. When Puck was walking towards the door, there were police guards at the lobby. Puck yawns and taps his foot impatiently. As Puck looks around the room, he notices he's not the only one looking annoyed and bored as ever.

There are probably ten people here in total excluding Fanny. There are more guys than girls, and most of them look eighteen. So far, Puck isn't the only one with a Mohawk. There is a kid who looks punk sitting two seats away from him with a Mohawk, but his head wasn't completely shaved off. He has his arms crossed and his eyes closed, looking like he doesn't give a single damn in this world.

Fanny looked at everyone with a huge smile on her face. "Okay guys, as you can see we have a new member. Everybody, welcome Noah—"

"Puck," Puck snapped at Fanny.

Fanny blinked, and her smile twitched downwards a little. "I'm sorry?"

"I like to be called Puck, not Noah."

"Puck?" A girl with short, blonde hair and a tattoo on her arm piped up. "You know that rhymes with fuck, right? Don't people make fun of you like they make fun of Tuck?" She pointed at a scrawny kid, who looked like he was about to pee on himself anytime now. The tattooed girl pointing at him isn't making anything better.

Puck scoffed. "I'm pretty sure people are smart enough to know not to mess with me."

A buff, African-American man shot a look at Puck, his dark eyes sending Tuck to jump out of his seat. "What, you think you're big and tough, Lima boy?"

"O'Jay, calm down. He didn't mean it like that." Fanny said in a sweet, calming voice yet you can still hint the fear and aggravation in her voice. It seems like she deals with this every day of her life as an Anger Management instructor. Puck can't even dream or see himself being an Anger Management instructor without grabbing all of their head and slamming it against a wall until their knocked out. Of course, these thoughts he's having are the reasons he's in here in the first place, seeing as its not normal imagining yourself slamming troubled people's heads on the wall, but that's just how it goes. "Natasha, please stop making fun of Tuck and his name."

Natasha scoffed. "Please, it's not like Fucker over there is saying anything."

Tuck looks like he's on the verge of tears and is shaking so hard, it looks like Hurricane Irene is going on inside of him. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but nothing comes out and he just snaps it closed and bows his head.

"The fuck is he doin' here anyway? The kid looks like he's about to pass out and we didn't even say anythin' to him." A dark skinned girl sitting next to O'Jay said, laughing at Tuck as he cringed.

"Hey, you should be the last one talking, Dee, since the only reason your here is because you don't know how to leave O'Jay alone for nine seconds." An Asian girl said from across the room flipping her extremely long black hair with streaks of purple here and there.

Dee glared at the girl from across the room. "Oh, the Asian finally speaks. I suggest you shut the hell up before I hit you so hard your eye will get even thinner than it is right now."

"And I'll just knock you on your ass and hopefully staple your mouth together so not only you can stop talking shit, but to prevent people from being blinded for life at the sight of your gums that aren't supposed to be showing. Seriously, you look like a horse. It's embarrassing." The Asian girl retorted back.

"Oh, _hell _no! Don't be trying to come up to me with all this bullshit because honey I _will _chop your hair off, shave your scalp, and throw you in a tank full of sharks!" Dee said, standing up and knocking the chair to the floor with the force of her action.

The Asian girl grabbed a hair elastic from the many bracelets/hair elastics she had on her arm and tied her hair in a high ponytail. "I'd like to see you try and touch my hair. Unlike yours, my hair is real and I don't have to stick weave all around my scalp to make myself look decent!"

Dee stalked up to her. "You really wanna take that walk with me, you son of a bi—"

Fanny stood up and tried to push Dee away from the Furious Asian who stood up as well and was yelling at Dee. "Girls! That is enough! Cat, sit back down! Dee, go take a walk and cool down! I am _not _going to deal with you guys right now!" Cat sat down and crossed her arms, glaring daggers at Dee who still stood there, panting like a dehydrated runner. Dee didn't make a move, so Fanny said, "Now, Dee!"

Dee huffed and walked towards the door, mumbling something under her breath. Most likely planning on a way to get back at Cat for having the guts to come at her like that and get away with it while she's the one that has to cool down.

While everyone seemed unfazed by what just happened, Puck was in shock. He was mostly shocked about how Fanny had the balls to get up and stop the fight before it even started. Fanny looks like the type of person that hated violence and would cry if she saw people fighting right in front of her. Her face looked so innocent and sweet, it seemed like she wouldn't even harm a ladybug. But when she raised her voice to stop the fight, Puck had to close his eyes tight and open them again to see if what he was seeing was actually what was going on. And don't even get him started with the way the girls just...stopped. They didn't even protest or talk over her. They didn't yell at Fanny nor did they argue with her. They just stopped. It was like Fanny had some type of power over them that he has yet to discover.

_Why am I here again?_

Fanny sat back down on her chair, breathing in slowly, than letting it out with a small smile on her lips.

Puck chuckled, than tried to cover it up with a cough. He knew it was no use seeing as every head in the room turned to him as if he had two heads and he's spitting out a bunch of insults through both heads.

"What's so funny?" O'Jay asked, his voice not sounding the least bit of nice.

"I'm sorry. It's just...I have to spend four hours every day with..._them_?" Puck asked moving his hands in the air, motioning to the group of people with faces that show that they took what Puck said offensively. "I mean, not to offend any of you"—yeah, right—"but I'm nothing like you guys."

The punk kid scoffed, and Puck turned to look at him. He still had his eyes closed but his arms were no longer crossed. They were resting on his knees, his whole body leaning forward. "Listen, _Puck,_" he spat out as if it were a taste in his mouth he spent ages trying to get rid of. "Don't think you're better than us. I mean, not to _offend _you, but by the looks of it, you have serious problems."

_This asshole likes sarcasm, huh?_

Puck glared at the teen. "Listen, kid—"

"Dante,"

Puck rolled his eyes. "Yeah, _kid,_" Puck turned to him. "You don't know me; the only one who knows me is _me."_

The kid rolled his eyes. Puck just met the kid and he already despises him more than when he first met Rachel, and that's saying something.

Fanny held up her hand. "Dante, Puck, this group isn't about who is worse than the other. We're all here for a reason. O'Jay is here because he kept getting in fights with people on the train, Dee always gets into arguments with every girl that O'Jay talks to, and Cat is here because she can't help but yell at her mother and family for the simplest things. Everybody is here for a reason."

Puck pointed to the punk kid. "What is the kid here for?"

"Dante is here because of relationship issues." Fanny simply said, as if it was a reason to actually be here.

Puck scoffed. "So he's here because he has problems with his girlfriend? How old are you, anyway? A couple of teenagers can't have that big of an issue." _Except the whole baby gate issue. That doesn't count._

"First of all, I'm twenty." Dante pointed out, rolling his eyes and playing with the rips of his jeans. "Second of all, my relationship issues aren't small."

Puck leaned back in his chair and ran a hand down his thigh before crossing his arms. "I have bigger relationship issues than you, dude."

"Yeah, I doubt it." Dante stretched his legs out, and then crossed his ankles together. "My girl, Courtney...she was the girl for me. She was beautiful, smart, and wild—she was a handful, yet she was still mine." There was a pregnant pause.

Another girl that was sitting next to Fanny, said, "Dante, you can continue. I don't think Puck is gonna make fun of you seeing as he has relationship issues as well."

Dante looked at the girl. "I'm not stopping because of him..." Dante looked at his feet as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "I dumped her when we were driving to my friend's house. I told her I didn't want her anymore and that the only thing she did was complicate my life even more and that I prefer my life to be easy."

"I thought you said she was the girl for you?" Puck asked.

"She was, and she still is. The only problem is that she's married," Dante said, clenching his fists that were inside his pockets and breathed in slowly, then breathed out. "I was eighteen when I saw her again. My friend was having a Last Day of High School party, and all I could do was stare at her from across the room while she had fun. The more I stared at her, the more I yearned for her. Then we started talking, and we slowly became friends again. We slept together one day, and that's when I thought that we were finally back together. That I'd finally get my girl back and fix everything. Then she said that we sleeping together was a mistake and that we would never work because of our past. Two years later, she's married to a wealthy guy that I can't stand. I take out my anger on other people and I got arrested too many times, so that's why I'm here."

Puck stared at him, and he no longer thought so badly of him. He actually feltbad for him. The kid made a mistake and he obviously regrets it. Puck can't imagine the thought of Rachel being married to some wealthy guy, leaving his ass behind. He'd most likely be lost and just simply hate the guy like Dante. In fact, everything that Dante is doing is probably what he'd do. And what he is doing.

He's taking his anger towards the Beth situation on Rachel.

Sometimes he loves Rachel, and then sometimes he just wants to yell at her, make her cry, and just...make her hurt. And even though he hates himself for laying a hand on her, he doesn't really see the bad part of yelling at her. It doesn't seem like a big deal! Couples fight all the time—Finn and Rachel fought every fucking day! Why it is that he fighting with Rachel is worse? He wouldn't know.

Puck stays quite for the remainder of the session. Fanny rarely spoke, and she just let the group share their stories. Puck wouldn't share his story. He felt as if his story wasn't a big deal. Just two couples fighting.

What can go wrong?

Puck opened the door to his apartment and dragged his feet inside his apartment. He yanked his coat off and threw it in the small coat closet near the entrance. He rolled his neck back and let out a satisfied sigh when he heard it crack and the feeling of loss tension ran through his body. He chucked his shoes off and walked into the living room. Puck nearly screamed when he saw Santana laying on the couch with her head on one of the pillows with one of Puck's shirt on, snoring loudly and drool spilling out of her mouth and onto the cushion. Puck sighed and ran his hand down his face, trying to release some of the new found tension in his body he's been feeling for a couple of days now. Puck grabbed a pillow and whacked Santana in the head, attempting to wake her up. On the fourth hit, Santana stirred slightly.

"Wake up, Santana. What the hell are you doing here? How'd you get in here anyway?"

Santana blinked a couple of times until some of the sleepiness wore off, enough for her to keep her eyes open. She sat up and yawned, scratching her head. She then grabbed a pillow and threw it at Puck. "What the hell is wrong with you? You know better than to hit me with a pillow while I'm sleeping, _maldito idiota_."

Puck grabbed the pillow that Santana threw at him and tossed it in the seat next to her. "Santana, how'd you get in here?"

Santana stretched her arms. "I have a spare key, remember?"

Puck narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Uh...no."

"Fine, I stole one of your spare keys. No, matter of fact, I stole one of Rachel's spare key." Puck shot her a look. "No need for her to have it anymore. It's not like she's living here anymore." She pointed out.

Puck winced, but he covered it up as soon as he did winced. He plopped down on the seat next to her and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"Long day? How was the session?" She asked carelessly. She grabbed the remote and started to turn on the TV.

Puck shook his head. "I plan on calling Fanny tomorrow and telling her I'm dropping out of the program."

Santana stopped channel surfing and turned to him with a disapproving look. "You're quitting? What the fuck for? You've only been there for five hours!"

"Yeah, and I already hate the fucking place. Seriously, all they do is talk about their problems. Fanny doesn't even do shit."

"What about Yentl?" Santana asked.

"What about her?" He grabbed the control from Santana's hand and started flipping through the channel himself, trying to make it seem like him quitting wasn't such a big deal.

Santana rolled her eyes and turned to him. "Puck, you _hit _her."

"I didn't hit her, I pushed her. There's a difference." He said stubbornly.

Santana glared at him. "No, there isn't. Puck, you hurt her! Physically!"

Puck ignored her, yet he wasn't completely ignoring her. He was still listening to her, but he really didn't care about what Santana had to say. Puck and Santana have been close ever since they became fuck buddies. Puck was the first to know about her undying love for Brittany, and Santana was the first to know about his father before anyone else. That's why Puck hates it when Rachel calls Santana names. He has a soft spot for Santana that nobody will understand, not even Rachel herself. And that's one of the holes in their relationship. Yet, even when they're really close to each other, he still hates it when Santana tries to put him in his place. Like, if _she_ was his therapist or mother.

Santana stared at him furiously before yanking the remote away from his hands. Puck protested but Santana just held up her manicured hand. "If you quit, do you think your problems with Rachel will automatically fix themselves? You know she's not gonna give you another chance if you quit. Don't you love her?"

Puck looked at her as if a dog crawled out of her mouth. "Of course I love her, Santana! Which is why I'm not going to tell her that I'm quitting the program."

"Wait, you're not gonna tell her?"

"Nope," Puck grabbed a handful of chips from the bag that was on the floor and shoved them in his mouth.

Santana looked at him with a look that would make Tuck cower to a corner. "Puck, don't do this. Either you tell her you quit or you stay in the program. Anything, but just don't lie to her."

"Santana, if I tell her I quit she won't give me another chance. If I stay, I'll end up in jail. I have a dilemma in my hands and the best way to solve it is if I ignore it!"

Santana held her hands up. "Don't come yelling at me. I just simply think what you're doing is going to end up bloody, and you're going to end up hurting."

Puck scoffed. "Yeah, right. What can go wrong?"

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry…again. Nothing much happened in this chapter, and I'm sorry to disappoint. I know it's short. I've been really busy! I mean, CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE! I promise, I'll make a better chapter during vacation!<strong>

**Also, I still need that BETA. I've been getting some request, but I either don't get a respond back, or they say it through review which I can't click on usernames! So, please, PM me!**

**Review, please! Ideas are welcomed too! Seriously, I'm writing this as it goes! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Am I late again? Probably, but I apologize! Anyways, thanks to my BETA ****cantlivewithnolaughgal!**

**PS: People questioned on why I have this on T if it's not sexual or inappropriate, and my answer is it's not sexual **_**yet.**_** Who doesn't like angry, make-up, or whatever kind of sex? That's what this story is going to have in later chapters. **

**On with the story!**

* * *

><p>Puck dials the number of the girl that's been on his mind all week. Ever since he started (and then quit) the program, he hasn't heard from the petite brunette. Now, he's starting to get a little irritated with her. Okay, he's starting to get <em>a lot<em> irritated_. _He's starting to think that Santana told her about him quitting the program, and he fears that Rachel's trying to cut him out of her life for all his stupid mistakes and actions.

Honestly, he doesn't see what's so wrong. Yeah, he feels _really _guilty about hitting her and contemplated turning himself in, but she was the one who talked him out of it. He will always hate himself for hitting Rachel. Because of what he did—even though he doesn't remember it—he will see himself as his deadbeat father. But all the other fights? He had a reason, and that is Beth. Ever since he heard about Beth, he's been in a different place. A _very _dark place where all he wants to do is hit and smash things against the wall. He's not perfect, and everybody knows that. Yet, they still pity him—even Rachel. And that only pisses him off even more. He doesn't want to be pitied. The only problem is he doesn't know what he wants.

After a couple of rings, he hears her beautiful voice on the other line say, "Noah, it's nice to hear from you. H-How are you?"

She's nervous.

She's nervous to talk to him, and it doesn't surprise him that he feels annoyed and a bit angry. Is she scared of a guy that she's been with for three-fifths of a decade?

"Hey Princess. Long time, no talk. I've been… better." He plays around with the strings from his hoodie. "What about you? Life treating you well?"

"Oh, same here. I've been better. Enough about me, how's your anger management classes? Have you met anybody new? Did you make any new friends?"

_She doesn't know. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing._

Puck scratched the back of his neck. "Um, yeah. The program is going okay so far. I met some new people, and I'm sort of close with this one guy." Puck can lie, but every time he lies to Rachel, he feels this guilt inside of him. He remembers the promise they made that they would be completely honest with each other, because apparently honesty is very important in a relationship. At least, it is for the majority of the people. But Rachel took that stuff seriously, and it would kill her if he lied to her or kept a secret from her for too long. Puck was honest with her most of the time—he was. But sometimes he would lie about something like buying a pet, throwing a party at his house, assuring everything will be fine when sometimes it wasn't fine, lying to her about still having contact with Finn, and also about Finn asking for her, unaware that Puck was in a serious relationship with said woman. Lying to her about staying in the program was a pretty big lie in her book. "Nothing really new around here..."

_Except you not being by my side and the only communication I can have from you is through the phone. _

"Oh, that's great! Who's your new friend? What's his name?"

_Fuck my life. _"Um, well, is name is, uh...Dante?" Puck smacked himself in the forehead, mentally beating himself up for being so stupid. _I had to say his name? Seriously, I rather pick O'Jay!_

"Really? What's he like? Did he tell you why he was in the program?"

Puck ran his hand down his face. "Uh, Dante is there because he takes his anger out on other people and he got arrested too many times."

"Why is he angry, though?"

Puck sighed. "The girl he loves is married to another guy."

Puck could hear Rachel gasp on the other line.

"Oh, my God. That's...that's pretty sad."

Puck closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He hopes that by the time he's "fixed", Rachel would still be his girl. He can't even imagine Rachel ditching him for some perfect, wealthy guy. That would be the cherry on top of his fucked up life. He knows Rachel still loves him after all he has done to her, but she still can't be with him because of what? Because he hurt her too bad? He knows that he hurt her, but to break up? He doesn't understand that. Oh! And what a perfect way to confront her than now.

"Why are we doing this?" he asks, his elbows propped up on his knees and leaned his body forward.

She paused before asking, "Doing what, exactly?"

"This whole break up thing, don't you think it's a bit pathetic?"

"Noah..." She pauses, and then she continues. "You hurt me in so many ways that I can't even be around you without having to worry about saying the right thing without setting you off, Noah. Do you even know half of the horrid things you've said to me?"

"Does it matter? I didn't mean most of the things I've said to you. I was caught in the heat of the moment, Rachel. I was angry, and there were some things I didn't mean to say," he pointed out.

"Yeah, and what about the things that you _did _mean to say? Don't you think that would hurt me? Having you admit things about me that would put me down and make me feel like...like trash! And then Santana—"

Puck clenched the seat of his couch, and breathed out hoarsely. "I was never cheating on you with Santana. For God's sake, Rachel, she's a lesbian!"

"Not that! It's the fact that you confide in her more than you confide in me! Every time we fight, you walk out and go to Santana's instead of staying home and talking to me about what's bothering you or the fight that we just had and solving the problems ourselves! And the fact that Santana still calls me all those mean, rude names and you don't say anything to defend me! Nobody says anything to defend or make me feel better about myself and assure me that I do _not _have Man Hands! Only Owen does, but I would expect my boyfriend to as well! You always pick her side! You even go as far as to call me the things she calls me! I've felt a lot more insecure this year than any other years we've been dating! Those first five years were the best days of my life, and all of the sudden you turn into this...this monster! You're Puck all over again! You're the guy that makes fun of me, throw slushies at me and calls me annoying!" She's breathing—panting—on the other line by now.

Puck didn't know she felt like this during their fights and the aftermath of it. The only thing that mattered to him was...leaving. Leaving everything behind and trying to get through a time of his life where he feels like he has nothing to live for. After Shelby called him telling him that Beth has no intention on seeing or meeting her father, his world went black. He didn't know how to feel after that...he definitely felt anger though. Everything after that seemed to annoy him a lot. The birds chirping, the kids playing, the ducks quacking, his mother's concerns, and Rachel's pity. All of it made him angrier and he just snaps at them empty words, words with no meaning yet words nonetheless.

He rubbed the crease of his forehead. He didn't know what to say to that, and apparently he didn't have to.

He heard her sniff softly and he immediately felt guilty. "Noah...I'm sorry about Beth. I can't imagine how horrible you're feeling right now about her not wanting to meet you. I know how much she meant to you in high school, but do you really have blame me? When was the last time you talked to your mother? She's worried about you! _I'm _worried about you, Noah! I'm scared for what might happen to not only you, but to _us._ I don't want to be, but I'm scared of you. I'm scared of further heartbreak, because right now, I'm _broken._ I feel ugly all of the time; I feel like I need to be quiet because I talk too much and people hate that; I feel like I should wear gloves to prevent people to see my hands—I feel disgusting! I'm not in the right state of mind right now, and I just needed to get away from further damage." She was crying now, and Puck's stomach churned at her watery voice and soft hiccups.

"Baby, you're beautiful. Don't...don't think that you're not."

"It's a little too late. Finn gave me a lot of insecurities, and you know that because you were there to tell me I was beautiful and that Finn didn't deserve me if he couldn't see how lucky he was to have me, and that picking the girl over me was the dumbest thing any man could do—you made me feel pretty! You mended my heart, Noah. And now you broke it all over again..," she said softly, her sniffles and whimpers like a broken record.

"I didn't mean to break your heart, Rachel. I really didn't."

"It doesn't make a difference that you did..," she says so softly as if she was talking to a sick, weak, person; scared to talk loud to prevent further pain, "I'm glad you're getting help, Noah. I really do. I believe that this will help you and we can fix our relationship."

She says it with so much hope. Puck curses himself in his head. "Ah, shit. Rachel..." He takes a deep breath. "Rachel, I'm quitting the program."

"W-What? Why?"

Puck shakes his head. "I don't belong there. I feel like I'm in a room filled with people who don't understand me."

"But they do understand you, Noah. Dante seems to understand you a bit—"

"I'm not really close to Dante, Rach."

"But you said―"

"I lied," Puck knew Rachel is going to either hang up, or yell at him. He scared that he might have ruined his last chance at a relationship with her and that's what makes his heart thunder like hard, pouring rain. "I didn't want to upset you further and I really don't want to lose you, Princess. You're the only thing keeping me sane because if I didn't have you right now, I'd probably ponder committing suicide."

He heard her gasp. "Noah, that's not something to joke about!"

He gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I'm not joking, Baby." He licked his lips.

She sighs. "Noah...I still think you should talk to somebody about Beth."

Noah scoffs. "I'm not going to talk to some stranger about Beth or my feelings."

"Then maybe you should talk to someone you know. Someone that knows how you're feeling; that's been through the same thing."

"Yeah, like who?"

She pauses and then she says, "...Noah, I think you should talk to Eli."

"Yeah, fuck that noise. How is that going to help? I haven't seen him in sixteen years! I think if I see him, he'll just anger me more and I'll probably go to jail for attempted murder! Rachel, what the fuck were you thinking when you suggested that I should talk to my _dad, _the one that left us, hurt my mother and left her to take care for three lives by herself?" he hissed through the phone.

"Remember when he called your mom? He wanted to see you and Rebecca, and you refused to see him. You want nothing to do with him, and as much as it hurts me to say this, Beth wants nothing to do with you either." Puck bites the inside of his cheek as his stomach twisted like a Twizzler. "It's for the best, Noah."

"I'm not going to talk to him, Rach. That's final. Like you said, I want nothing to do with him, so why don't we leave it at that? I've been doing okay without him, and I plan on continuing with my life without him. You can't force me to see him."

Rachel sighs. "You're right, I can't. But then how are you going to get better?"

"Just talking to you makes me feel better, Rachel." And it's the truth. Puck feels better than he did a second ago just by talking to her. Hearing her voice after a week sends this feeling of happiness and relief throughout his body. Like all the tension and thoughts that made him feel heavy—like the world that is on his shoulders vanishes into thin air.

"Noah..."

"Rachel, I want to see you again. I want you to come over...I promise I'll behave myself." Puck smirks. He meant it in both ways, and he knows she got it.

She giggles a little. "Noah...are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I want to make you dinner tomorrow. You don't work in Saturdays, right? It's perfect," he pointed out, his voice lacing with hope.

Rachel hesitated. "I-I still feel a little hesitant with all this."

"What do I have to do to get you to come over tomorrow? Seriously, I really just want to see you." _Kiss you, touch you, make you scream, make love to you..._

Rachel sighs. "I'll go..." Puck's grinning like a sappy fool right now, doing a secret happy dance. "But Owen has to come with me too."

_Wait, what? Is she fucking kidding me?_

"Are you serious?" he asks.

"I'm just not ready to be alone with you. I still need time and you still need help. I understand why you want to see me, because I want to see you too, but I still want us to be acting like friends. No relationship for now."

Puck's smile is gone and he contemplated cancelling the whole dinner thing. But he _really _wants to see Rachel and he won't give that up because of Owen.

"Fine, deal," he agreed.

_What am I getting myself into?_

_~O~_

Rachel enters the room, immediately greeted by all the kids from the daycare. She smiles at them and gives a greeting to all of them. She glances up and sees Owen playing around with Julie, a one-year-old who's currently without a father. Her mother takes care of her and would literally give her life to support her. Julie is a beauty and everybody loves her. Owen is really close to her and every time Julie is hurt or starts to cry, she goes to Owen and Rachel always found that adorable.

She smiles at the view before her, and walks over to him. "Hello there, Mr. Wright!"

Owen looks up at her and smiles. "Ms. Berry! Beautiful as ever, how are you today?"

Rachel places her coat on the coat hanger in the corner of the room. "I'm fine, but I really need to talk to you."

Owen frowns. "Something wrong?"

Rachel shakes her head. "Oh, no! Nothing like that. I just need to tell you something…and ask, in some ways."

Owen nods. "Julie, Ms. Berry and I need to half a conversation. Go play with Brian over there, okay sweet pea?"

Julie nods and runs to the arts and crafts section to join Brian and the other babysitter.

Owen smiles at her until he walks up to Rachel and wraps his arm around her in a hug. He lets go and sits in one of those little kids chairs, making him look like a gorilla sitting on a toilet.

"So, what's up Rach?"

"Well, I talked to Noah today." She smiles softly, and it didn't go unnoticed to Owen.

"Hey, what's with all the smiles? I thought you didn't want to talk to him, supposedly you hated him," Owen pointed out.

Rachel smiles even bigger. "Owen, Noah is really trying to fix our relationship. He's really trying to get help." Rachel sighs dreamily. "He's serious about us and he's not ready to let it all go, and neither am I. I feel like we can be together again eventually."

"So, you've forgiven the guy?"

"I'm getting there. I mean, I'm still hurt and I'm always being reminded about the things he has said about me, but I believe that in the future we can get through all of this. He just needs someone who understands him and can help him out faster." She sits down on one of the chairs next to him, only when she sits down she doesn't look so much out of place nor uncomfortable.

Owen shakes his head. "I'm not really feeling this. I still feel a little skeptical with this guy. I know how much he hurt you, Rach."

"I know, but how would you feel if your daughter that you loved so much didn't want anything to do with you? He was in a terrible place at the time, and right now he's trying to escape. He's trying to change for me and for the stake of our relationship." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and bit her lip. "I'm just excited to have my Noah back. I…I really miss what we had and I'm ready to get my relationship back in track."

Owen smiles at her. "I still don't like the guy, but I know how you guys were before and I hope everything comes out okay between you two."

Rachel rubs her hands nervously. "Um, speaking of that, he invited me to his house tomorrow."

Owen furrowed is eyebrows. "So soon? I thought you guys were taking it easy!"

Rachel's eyes widened. "We're not going to have sex, Owen! We're just going to have dinner like friends. We are going to take it slow."

"Okay then, what's the problem?"

"I'm not really ready to be alone with him and…" She takes a breath. "I told him you could come with me!" she said so fast that Owen didn't quite get it.

Owen holds up his hands. "Wow, slow down. What did you say?"

Rachel takes a breath again. "I told him that you would accompany me to have dinner with him."

Rachel shuts her eyes close, waiting for Owen to blow up.

Five, four, three…

Owen chuckles. "You're fucking with me, right?"

It came a bit earlier than she expected…

When Rachel didn't say anything, Owen stopped laughing and glared at the tiny brunette. "Rachel, I hate it when you involve me in something without my permission! Especially in stuff like this! I don't even like the asshole!"

Rachel held up her hands to calm him down. "Hey, I know and I'm sorry but I really need you to come with me! I need as much support as I can get and right now, you're my best friend and I need you!"

Owen looks down at her, her big brown eyes pleading and the cute pout on her lips making him sigh and send a small prayer to the God's above. "Fine, I'll go."

Rachel squeals and wraps her arms around his neck. "Thank you! Oh God, thank you!"

Owen looks up at the sky again and mouths, "What have I gotten myself into?"

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><p><strong>NEXT CHAPTER: Dinner with the three, aftermath, and the return of a former Glee club member! Any guesses?<strong>

**Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:...Hey, long time no anything! I'm so sorry for not updating for the longest time! Life doesn't love me as much as I love them, unfortunately :( Anyways, here's chapter nine! I'll try to update That Girl as fast as possible, for those who are reading that story too! **

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><p>Rachel let out a frustrated sigh and pushed the strand of hair that kept popping up towards the sky back down for what felt like the millionth time. She slowly released her hand from the hyperactive piece of hair and let out a small squeal when it was finally tamed. She looked at herself in the mirror with a smile, satisfied with her high ponytail. The two strands of curly hair hanging on both of her cheeks brought out her features even more, making her have this beautiful, natural look. She grabbed the stick of clear lip gloss and applied one layer over her plump lips, adding more to her look. She ran her hand down her ponytail that reached a little bit above the middle of her back. She only ran her fingers through her hair when she was nervous, and she rarely got nervous. This dinner that was a few minutes away was really getting to her.<p>

Owen knocked on the door even though it was wide open and smiled, amused the sight in front of him. "Well, I thought we were going to a simple dinner with the ex." He ran his eyes over her body, taking in the blood red dress that was clinging to her body, accenting her curves and assets. "What are you trying to do, torture the guy? You look like you're going to the Emmy's! It's just dinner, Rach. Besides, I seriously doubt he's gonna dress all fancy. Fuck, _I'm _not even dressed fancy!"

Rachel looked at his appearance, seeing his monotonous jeans and plain white T-shirt with a chain that has his mother's name on it. Rachel looked down at her beautiful dress with a single slit that showed off her fantastic right leg; the sight would make any man drool enough to fill the Great Lakes. Rachel frowned. "It looks okay..." she said.

"No, it looks fucking sexy...for a wedding party. For dinner, it looks a bit too much," Owen clarified.

Rachel examined the dress one more time. "I guess you're right. But what should I wear? There is absolutely nothing in my closet that's perfect for this type of..._ scenario_." She walked towards her closet and rummaged through every piece of clothing she owned. She moved from a shirt to a dress, from jeans to another shirt...

Owen pushed Rachel out of the way, having enough of her taking her time trying to find the "perfect" outfit. Owen picked up a green flowy shirt and held it out to Rachel. "Here, wear this."

Rachel's face scrunched in disgust and disbelief. "Owen, that's ugly! It's the color of mucus and it makes me look fatter than I really am."

"Then why do you still have it?"

"Because," Rachel stated, grabbing the blouse from Owen's hands and putting it back in the closet, "It was a gift."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Women..." He looked inside the closet and grabbed a white off-the-shoulder top. "This one is perfect," he stated.

Rachel looked at the top skeptically. "Where did I get that top from...?" she questioned Owen, a suspicious look on her face.

"I don't know, and, frankly, I don't care. Go; put it on so we can go," Owen said, shoving the article of clothing to her.

"Wait! I need pants with this!" Owen watched as she went through her jeans and picked out a pair of dark skinny jeans. "Oh, and the heels my Daddy got me will go perfect with this outfit, along with the bracelet Noah gave me for my twentieth birthday!"

Owen looked up to the ceiling and shook his head before making his way back to the living room.

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><p>A knock was heard in the background, and Puck stopped stirring what he considered "edible" dinner. He wasn't the best cook, but he wasn't the worst either. Hell, he was a better cook than Finn and that's all that mattered. Besides, Rachel ate his food and didn't complain about it, so he's somewhat satisfied. Somewhat satisfied because after he first cooked, Rachel took over the kitchen and he hadn't cooked dinner for the past six years. Only somewhere between one to five times did he cook in the last half a decade, but he wasn't complaining much. Rachel's food is the bomb.<p>

His jaw tightened without his full consent, and he unconsciously wiped his sweaty hands up and down his jeans as he walked towards the hard wood door. He knew why he was nervous: this was the do-or-die situation for their relationship. He could possibly ruin everything, but he also may be able to fix anything he caused damage to, although he seriously can't remember what exactly he'd done wrong. Everything was a big blur of color that he dismissed thinking about. He saw no reason in trying to remember if it was in the past. Yeah, they say, "Remember the past to gain memories," but from what he heard of how he treated Rachel, why would he want to hold onto bad memories?

He opened the door without looking though the peephole and was greeted with Rachel's apprehensive smile and Owen's cold, annoyed expression. Puck, too, started to get annoyed after just seeing Owen outside of his door. He didn't want the sucker to come personally. He was continuously hoping for something to all of a sudden come up so that Owen won't be able to attend the dinner, but apparently God (otherwise known as YHWH-which I won't write out in case I offend any Jewish people out there) hated him and sent karma to bite him in the ass for whatever he did wrong. Puck gave himself a small pep talk about being nice and smooth with his guests for Rachel and their relationship.

"Hey Rachel, you look beautiful," _Yes, just like that. Keep it up!_ "Owen, I'd say the same thing, but my mother taught me not to lie. Especially about someone's appearance; honesty is the key, right Baby?" _The fuck, Puck!_

Rachel scowled at him and Owen gave him a fake smile. "Nice to see your ugly, crunchy-ass looking face too, Puck. I missed you so much, you don't even know. In fact," Owen said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper, and giving it to him, "I made a picture for you."

Puck snatched the piece of paper and opened it up. Puck looked at the drawing, feeling his grip on the paper become tighter. There was a picture of an oval representing his body and a giant circle for a head. There were tears streaming down the face of the "stick figure," and there was a long line of scribbled black crayon on the top of its head. The Puck in the drawing had his hand on the left side of his chest, and there was a dialogue bubble that said, "Come back, Rach! I need you, baby. Suicide will be my only option!" and there was another figure that was laughing his ass off. The figure was Owen.

Rachel grabbed the paper and peeked at it. She gasped and crumbled the piece of paper and threw it at Owen's head. "Owen! You promised you would be civil to Noah!"

"He started it!" Owen exclaimed, glaring at Puck as the Jewish badass silently laughed at him.

Rachel turned her head to glare at Noah, her heated gaze making him stop laughing almost immediately.

_Don't get her mad, Puck! What the fuck are you doing? Remember the pep talk? Don't make her regret this dinner!_

Puck gave Rachel a genuine smile. "Sorry Rachel," She smiled softly at him but then raised an eyebrow and glanced at Owen. Puck sighed. "Sorry Owen," he said gruffly.

Owen opened his arms and gave Puck another fake smile. "Aw, come to Papa!"

"Don't push it," Puck growled out.

Rachel clapped her hands, giving Puck a strong urge to entwine their fingers together and kiss the top of her head like he used to do when he saw her cute hands... her _really_cute hands.

"Okay, I think it is now an appropriate time to take this conversation inside, right Noah?" Rachel turned to him, her big Bambi eyes hypnotizing him for a quick second.

Puck stepped aside and bowed slightly, his arm outstretched and a playful smirk playing on his lips. "After you, m'lady."

Rachel blushed and walked in without hesitation, already knowing where the dining room was, seeing as she lived there before their relationship went downhill to ex-ville.

Puck stood up and walked inside following her as if he was in some sort of daze as he stared blatantly at her assets. He heard a loud grunt and turned back just in time to see Owen's finger dancing in between the door and the doorframe. Puck chuckled and opened the door wide open again. Owen brought his hand back and caressed it with his other uninjured hand. He glared at Puck with a new glow of a mix of red and orange.

"You're a _real_jerk, you know that?"

Puck chuckled. "Really? I didn't notice..." Puck glanced at Owen's hand that was now a shade of a painful looking red with a pinch of light purple. "You want some ice for that?" He asked teasingly.

Owen fake laughed. "Ha Ha, fuck you."

Owen pushed him out of the way and made his way to the dining room, Puck on his heels.

_Oh boy, this is going to be one interesting night, _Owen thought.

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><p>Rachel ate her vegan lasagna happily, humming to a Wicked song as she stabbed the greasy meal, completely unaware of the glares and silent death threats Owen was sending to Puck and vise-versa.<p>

"So, Noah, how was your day?" She asks as she wipes her mouth with the napkin that was a moment ago resting in her lap, always the ever so classy one.

Puck paused for a moment to smile at her and then replied, "I've had better. Hopefully my night will turn my mood around."

Rachel gave him a small smile. "How is that working for you so far?"

Puck smiled wider—if possible—and said, "It's definitely being turned around right about now."

Puck winked at her, making Rachel blush and give him one of her million dollar smile. Rachel looked down at her food nervously before looking back up to still see Puck staring at her with an intimate look. Rachel knew that she should still be mad at him because of all their fight and how he treated her, but in true reality, Rachel missed him so much. She hated cuddling up to her stuffed kangaroo that her father gave her instead of his warm, muscular chest every night. She missed the sweet and hot make-out sessions, the tickle wars, playing footsie's under the dinner table (he would never admit it though) and those nights when they become one in the moment of raw passion and pure love. She missed him, plain and simple.

They remained in that position, their memories and past moments radiating from eye to eye. So raw...

"Well, Rachie! My day went by so well, thanks for asking!" They both jumped and averted their gazes somewhere else. Rachel went back to her food (blushing) and Puck glanced toward Owen with a death glare. "Oh, I also want to tell you all about my trip to the pet store! It's to die for!"

Puck's jaw tightened as Owen's sarcastic and cruelly playful voice spilled out of his mouth. "What the fuck would happen that is so exciting from a trip to the fucking pet store?" Puck interrogated.

"Noah!" Rachel scolded.

Owen smirked. "You may not know this, but ferrets are the center of attention in pet stores, Puck."

"No, they aren't." Puck said matter-of-factly with a '_You fucking stupid?_' expression playing in his voice.

Owen pulled the same face as Puck, "What? Of course they are! What other animal would be the center of attention, huh?"

Puck scoffed. "Dogs, obviously. They're the most loved animal in this country."

"That's not fucking true, you dumbass. Dogs might be your favorite, but to others, it's ferrets."

"You've got to be shitting me right now. Ferrets aren't even that cute. You're making up all this information. I call bullshit."

"Ferrets are the center of attention in pet stores!" Owen claimed, dropping his fork.

Puck did the same. "No, they aren't," Puck argued.

"Yes, they are!" Owen said, scraping the chair against the floor as he stood up.

"No, they're not!" Puck exclaimed.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No—"

"I cannot believe you guys are fighting over this! Are you kidding me?" Rachel said after listening to the argument in absolute disbelief. "Over animals? Could you not fight over something a little more important than that? Way to be mature, really. Remind me when I took a job to babysit two eight year olds. Owen, sit back down and Noah, no more arguing please."

Owen sat back down, his blazing eyes still locked on Puck, and Puck grabbed his fork and stabbed his lasagna, eyes never leaving Owen. There was a pregnant silence when the only noise in the room was when the forks touched their plates, loud chewing (_Men..., _Rachel thought), and a little bit of coughing. Rachel looked up and watched as Puck ate and then she examined Owen, who was taking a sip of his beer. She noticed during the inspection that the two still had their eyes locked together.

Rachel cleared her throat. "Okay, enough with this ridiculous silence." She dabbed her mouth with the napkin before putting it down. "What's going on with you two? Why must you guys be so hostile towards one another?"

Owen put down his beer. "Well, Rachel, if you haven't popped out of your bubble of oblivion, this man broke your heart and left you all broken and depressed a couple of months ago. Remember that? And I was there as your shoulder to cry on since that moment. He hurt you so many times, each blow harder and a lot worse than the last until you were emotionally beaten, remember?" Rachel bit her lip and looked down towards her lap. This was _not _what she was expecting as an answer. "After all that, a couple of months later, you're gazing into his eyes all romantically, eating dinner together, calling him Noah again, and reaching the point in forgiving him after _everything _he did to you. And it pisses me off that you're letting him off the hook like that, Rach."

Puck's glare at Owen intensified, making him drop his fork on the plate rather loudly and causing Rachel to jump a little and Owen to turn his gaze back to Puck. "Listen here ass-wipe," Puck heard Rachel scold at him for cursing, but he ignored it, his mind entering the familiar blackness of anger. "You have no say in what goes on between me and Rachel. Last time I checked, you weren't her father, you weren't her guardian, you weren't her brother, and you especially weren't her boyfriend. What goes on between me and Rachel should be the least of your goddamn concern. This dinner was supposed to be me and Rachel only, and she brought you here for god knows why, and I hope right now she realizes that it was a mistake bringing you here."

"I do have a say in your relationship with Rachel because while you were hanging out in Santana's house after breaking her heart and hooking up with another woman after finding out she left, I was there consoling her and trying to make her feel better after _you _made her feel like she wasn't worth it." Owen said between gritted teeth.

"No one asked you to help her out or for you to get involved in our shit!" Puck yelled.

Owen stood up and placed his hands on the table. "I got involved because this girl"-he pointed to Rachel whose face was becoming increasingly blotchy as silent tears cascaded down her face-"this beautiful, amazing girl that you hurt _both _physically and emotionally needed someone by her side since everyone else left her, especially you."

"I'm still here! I came back, haven't I?"

"Yeah, when she was already six feet under..."

Puck's nostrils flared violently. "I did nothing wrong," he said dangerously, slowly.

Owen chuckled darkly. "So you pushing her, not to mention _hurting _her in the process and making her feel worthless of her valuable self is _right_?"

Puck pushed his plate away from him, causing all of his food to be sprawled out on the dinner table. "I don't have time for this shit. I invited _Rachel _here so we can have a nice dinner and so I could see her because I missed her. I didn't arrange this dinner for some asshole to come into my house and tell me all my fucking wrongs in life. You think I don't know what I did?"

"Do you?" Owen asked. "Because the way I see it, you haven't owned up to what you did."

Puck stood up from the table and strided over to Owen. "You want me to own up? Fine! I'll own up to whatever the fuck I did. I yelled at Rachel, I pushed Rachel, I called her mean names, I've been over at Santana's a lot, I haven't told she was beautiful, I ignored her, I avoided her, I told her off, I brought her down, I hurt her-"

"You fucking bastard, you _ruined _her. I want you to go over every single fucking thing you just said and tell me if she deserved any of that._"_

Puck went head to head with Owen, both furious and their pugnacious self ready for a blow out. "Butt the fuck out of my relationship,"

"What relationship is there if you abuse her..."

"Stop, _please._" Both of their heads turned to see a depressed looking Rachel whose eyes are full of fat tears that are joining the ones already racing down her cheeks. Puck eyes softened massively at the sight of her, all broken and..._ruined. _There's this heart clenching, stomach churning, throat constricting feeling inside of him that made him want to vomit all of the hard work he did to make the vegan lasagna. Her mouth was in an anguished smile that people make when they cry, and that sucked all the anger out of him and replaced it with dread.

"Baby..." Puck started making his way towards her, but Rachel held her hand up signaling him to stop in his tracks, which he did.

She sobbed. "Owen, I came to this d-dinner so Noah can see me and because I miss him...and you both completely ruined it."

Owen started to make his way towards Rachel before she said, "Stop! I'm not done," Owen stopped a few steps away from Puck. "The fact that you guys would openly talk about...a topic that I take so _hard _and that you would fight because of it makes me sick. This is a raw and hard topic for me, and just for tonight I wanted to avoid it by bringing Owen and the fact that you brought it up in the first place..." She glared openly at Owen.

"Well, sorry for acknowledging the huge purple elephant in the room, Rachel. You should be mature to bring up a situation or problem instead of avoiding it, don't you think? I mean way to be mature, right?" Owen said.

"Don't talk to her like that. Can't you see she's hurting?" Puck said, not believing that Owen would kick her while she's already down.

Rachel bit her trembling lip and choked on a sob. "I-I wasn't ready to talk about it, which is why I wanted this dinner. So the tension between us can subside a little so when we do talk about it, it won't end up in another huge mess!"

"If you can't see it already Rachel, it's already a mess! What did you think I was going to do? Sit and act like you weren't crying a couple of days ago because the guy I'm unfortunately having dinner with broke your heart beyond _fucking _repair?" Owen argued, the anger from the fight returning.

"What I wanted was for you to accompany me so I wouldn't have to face this alone-"

"Look what happened, Rach!"

Puck growled and went up to Owen. "Don't yell at her!"

Owen shoved Puck and he stumbled back. "Don't even start talking, Puck. You yelled at her, remember? You pushed her just like I pushed you, remember? And if it weren't for her leaving your ass, you might have even punched her like what I'm gonna do to you in a few minutes if you don't get the fuck out of my face!"

"I'd never punch a girl!" Puck yelled, claiming his spot in front of him again, fist clenched and eye-sight colored red.

"But you would shove her, right?"

Puck rammed his clenched fist into Owen's jaw, causing his whole head to turn, and Owen lost his balance for a second before he jumped back up and grabbed Puck neck in a vice-grip.

"Owen! Stop it! Let go!" Rachel squealed, wrapping her tiny hands around Owen's to try and pry them off of Puck's neck. "Owen, please!" she cried out.

Owen let go of Puck neck, taking a couple of steps back. Puck fell to the floor, coughing and gagging, trying to catch his breath. Rachel crouched down next to him, rubbing his back soothingly and asking if he's okay. Owen watched from a distance and he quickly regretted choking the guy that looks like he has asthma. He went a little bit too far. _Just a little..._

Owen sighed. "Ah _fuck_, Puck...I'm-"

Rachel looked at him, her eyes so full of fear and so much hurt. "Owen, I think you should go."

"Rachel, I didn't mean-"

"Owen," Rachel said with a hard, solemn tone. "You should go. Puck will drive me home, its fine. Please...just go."

Owen wanted to stay, to make sure Puck's fine. But most importantly, he didn't want to leave Rachel alone with Puck after all of this. Obviously, he opened the wounds and now they needed to be confronted, but Owen didn't want Rachel to confront them alone. They way that Rachel was looking at him said otherwise. Owen sighed, and sent another apologetic gaze to Rachel before heading towards the door.

Rachel looked back down at Puck who was breathing a lot better. "Noah, are you okay?"

Puck nodded, coughing a little bit more. Rachel jumped up and walked towards the table to grab the glass of water that belonged to her. "Here, drink this." Puck took a sip of water before giving it back to Rachel, assuring her that he was fine.

"I'm sorry, Noah. I didn't think Owen was going to lash out like that, especially when he hit you." Rachel said, sitting next to him on the floor.

Puck shook his head. "No, I probably deserved it."

Rachel shook her head. "No one deserved to get hurt. Obviously, you shouldn't have punched Owen first, but both of you are at fault. Violence is never the answer."

Puck turned to look at her. "You didn't deserve everything I did to you."

Rachel looked down at her lap and bit her bottom lip nervously, another thing Puck loved about her. "Well, you weren't in the right state of mind and-"

"That's no reason, Rachel," he grabbed her hands in his and gave them a hearty squeeze. "I don't remember much of any night that we fought, but I already regret every minute of it. And I...I want you back, Rachel. More than anything. My days consist of me working, eating, sleeping, and strumming my guitar. I remember the days where you would force me to watch a musical with you, or when you'd watch a game with me on TV...I miss you, baby. I miss you and I love you and I just...come back to me, Princess."

Rachel gripped his hand even tighter. "Noah, you hurt me. And you know that and Owen knows that and I'm...I'm-"

"Ruined?"

"Bruised," Rachel whispered. "I'd be broken if you meant all of it, but you didn't which is why my confidence is bruised, not broken."

Puck nodded and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, his lips leaving a heat and a slight tingle that _still _happened after all those years. "I'm not giving up."

Rachel gave him a small smile. "I know this whole Beth thing hurt you so bad, but you have to understand that I was not a part of it. I can't forgive you yet, but being here makes me relieved because...it's you, Noah."

Puck smiled. "And not Puck,"

Rachel nodded. "Not Puck..."

_Hopefully, no more Puck._

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><p><strong>AN: Review your personal thoughts! Ideas are welcomed, too! Writers block is slowly approaching me...**


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